Tata Trusts has upgraded four government hospital buildings, two in Uttar Pradesh and two in Maharashtra, into Covid-19 Treatment Centres, and has handed them over to the respective administrations. The facilities, including both in-patient and out-patient wings, are permanent and supplement existing health care infrastructure in these locations.

This is part of Tata Trusts’ four-pronged approach to support India in tackling Covid-19, as declared by the Chairman, Mr. Ratan N. Tata, earlier in March. Mr. Tata had said, “Urgent emergency resources need to be deployed to cope with the needs of fighting the Covid-19 crisis, which is one of the toughest challenges the human race will face.”

In Maharashtra, the Trusts-developed Centres are at Sangli (50 beds) and Buldhana (104 beds), and in Uttar Pradesh at Gautam Buddha Nagar (168 beds) and Gonda (124 beds). The Treatment Centres in Uttar Pradesh are in collaboration with a partner organisation. The decision to upgrade existing infrastructure was to bring speed and make use, wherever possible, of existing capabilities and services.

Each hospital is armed with critical care capabilities, minor operation theatres, basic pathology and radiology, facilities for dialysis and blood storage, and telemedicine units.

The construction was done by Tata Projects Limited, the design was by Edifice Consultants Pvt Limited, and equipment have been sourced from leading manufacturers.

Personal Protective Equipment: Among other interventions, the Trusts have been donating to State Governments and individual hospitals Personal Protection Equipment, including coveralls, N95/KN95 masks, surgical masks, gloves and goggles. Thus far, PPE supplies have gone out to about 32 states and Union Territories.

Community outreach: A pan-India community outreach has been done to induce adoption of health practices, as promoted by the Government of India, in rural areas to prevent the spread of Covid-19. The exercise is expected to have covered about 21 million people in 21 states. For wider deployment by any interested organisation, the Trusts have made publicly available through social media about 300 such videos and audio messages, in different languages, and dialects like Dongri, Kumaoni, Ladakhi, Garhwali, Santhali, Mundari, Kutchi (Gujarat) and Koborok (Tripura). All of them are available in the playlist here.

Training of health care staff: Tata Trusts and the Tata group have also tied up with two renowned medical institutions to assist health care professionals augment skills in critical care in the management of Covid-19. The two institutions are Christian Medical College (CMC) Vellore and Care Institute of Health Sciences (CIHS) Hyderabad. The curated 22-hour on-line training programmes are meant for specific staff chosen by identified hospitals and are provided free of cost. As on date, staff from over 356 hospitals in 26 states have been trained. They include the four Treatment Centres upgraded by the Trusts.