STAYING ONE STEP AHEAD
BEST PRIVATE HOSPITAL COMBATING COVID-19
WINNER: Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences, Bhubaneswar
WHY THEY WON: For setting up India’s first dedicated Covid hospital at the very onset of the pandemic and extending Covid care to rural Odisha
THE KALINGA INSTITUTE of Medical Sciences (KIMS) set up India’s first dedicated Covid-19 hospital as early as on April 2, 2020, when the pandemic was just beginning to spread in the country. KIMS, in association with the Odisha government and Odisha Mining Corporation, set up the 500-bed hospital within the KIMS premises in Bhubaneswar, equipping it with critical care units, ventilators and an 8.6 MT capacity medical oxygen plant. Since a building was being built there, KIMS founder Prof. Achyuta Samanta turned it into a Covid facility.
KIMS also extended Covid care beyond the urban centres. It set up three 200bed Covid hospitals in the backward districts of Kandhamal,
Balangir and Mayurbhanj. With 200 beds added in Bhubaneswar, the total bed strength of the four hospitals has increased to 1,300.
“A serious global health crisis was always going to be the toughest humanitarian challenge,” says Prof. Samanta, who started mobilising resources well in time to work with the state government in tackling the pandemic. As of August 2021, KIMS had conducted over 86,000 Covid tests and treated over 15,000 patients.
With quarantining and isolation taking a mental toll on many patients, the Covid hospital in Bhubaneswar kept all patients connected with their families and doctors round the clock through CCTV cameras and video conferencing.