Karnataka to spend Rs 1500 crore to upgrade 149 taluk, 19 district hospitals

Bengaluru: The Karnataka state COVID task force has given its approval to upgrade 149 taluk hospitals and 19 district hospitals by spending Rs 1,500 crore to prepare itself for the possible COVID-19 third wave, Deputy Chief Minister C N Ashwath Narayan said on Monday.

He said that the upgradation has been given a time limit of maximum of 3 months.

The government intended to provide maximum health facilities at the taluk level itself and up to 97 per cent special health services in districts.

Out of the estimated Rs 1,500 crore, around Rs 800 crore will be needed for infrastructure, and the remaining Rs 600-700 crore will be needed towards salary expenses which will be recurring every year, Narayan, who is also the head of the task force, said.

This upgradation will require the appointment of about 4,000 doctors, 2-3 nurses per each doctor and other staff, and diagnostic facilities will also be augmented across the state correspondingly, the DCM was quoted as saying by his office in a release.

“District hospitals will have a minimum of 100 beds all oxygenated (25 ICU with ventilators+25 HDU beds + 50 normal oxygenated beds) and taluk hospitals will have a minimum of 25 oxygenated beds,” he added.

The minister said that as per the National Skill Commission”s guidelines, 6 skills have been listed under Covid management support skills. He said 5,000 people, who have passed 10th and 12th classes, will be trained under this programme.

They will be given training for 3 months and a stipend of Rs 5,000 per month will be paid for each trainee, he added.