4.17.20 Broadwell Christian Hospital, Fatehpur, Uttar Pradesh, North Central India
“At Broadwell Christian Hospital, we have been designated as a COVID-19 facility by the government. We are in regular contact with the government and the Chief Medical Officer. In the past, the government has not been sure how to utilize private hospitals for this type of situation, so we are thankful that recently they have been proactively sharing their knowledge and plans with us.
We are told by the officials that so far 170 samples from our area have been tested for COVID-19 (all of them people returning from foreign countries); all of them reported to be negative. They are planning to send at least 20 samples per day. Our district government hospital takes the sample which has to be sent 75 miles away to Lucknow for testing.
In spite of being a COVID-19 designated facility, we do not have any standard, certified PPE kits. We are stitching our own PPE including masks with non-woven fabric we bought from another city. We have a limited number of surgical masks and about 10 N95 masks.
We have one functional ventilator and seven monitors. We have built isolation cabins in a general ward; each will have an oxygen supply and a monitor, and we have five private rooms being prepared to be used for COVID-19 cases.
India is still in the midst of a national lockdown. Almost all private hospitals and nursing homes are closed. As of now in our hospital our outpatient department (OPD) is open, and we are segregating patients with flu-like illness to be seen in a separate OPD. Our inpatients are mostly delivering mothers and newborns. This month we have only been able to pay our staff 50% of their salaries because of the decreased load of regular cases.”
~ Dr. Jesudoss Antony, Senior Administrative Officer
Emmanuel Hospital Association Canada 