MCL sets up 500-bed special hospital in Bhubaneswar for Coronavirus patients

Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL), a subsidiary of Maharatna Coal India, has established a 500-bed hospital dedicated to combating coronavirus. The hospital was inaugurated on April 6 in Bhubaneshwar in the presence of Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Union Minister Prahlad Joshi and Dharmendra Pradhan.

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New hospital inaugurated in Odisha

The hospital has 25 ICU beds with 25 ventilators already purchased and another five in the process of procurement. The hospital has been set up by SUM hospital in the city. 

The firm has also set-up a three-point strategy - 'produce, procure and prevent' to stop the spread of coronavirus. 

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MCL has set-up an internal COVID-19 Taskforce with helplines covering all its coalfields and headquarters, while working on mission mode to “procure” equipment to support Odisha government in the fight against pandemic. MCL has provided around 29,000 masks to employees and contractors’ workers while 90,000 more are being procured for further distribution.

The company has also started using “fog cannons”, to prevent the spread of virus in residential colonies and nearby areas.

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A total of 170 oxygen cylinders have been made available at four hospitals of MCL having quarantine facilities i.e. the Nehru Shatabadi Hospital, Talcher (Angul), Lakhanpur Hospital (Jharsuguda), Central Hospital (Jharsuguda) and Basundhara Hospital (Sundergrah). 42 Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs), 6,166 masks and 201 sanitizers have also been made available for doctors and paramedics.

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