L&T Construction Converts Healthcare Units into COVID-19 Care Facilities

MUMBAI:
The Building & Factories business of L&T Construction has transformed established or under-construction healthcare units into COVID-19 care facilities across India.

The construction arm of Larsen & Toubro, with its mission-oriented and fast- track approach, turned around large-scale healthcare infrastructure into COVID-19 care facilities in the cities of New Delhi, Champaran and Madhepura in Bihar, Puducherry, Diamond Harbour in West Bengal and Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh. The company has the capability to construct 300 bed hospitals in record three to four months. It is capable of quickly turning around existing or under-construction medical infrastructure into COVID-19 related facilities and transform large establishments like marriage halls, schools and hotel rooms quickly into isolation wards.

Commenting on the development, M V Satish, Whole Time Director and Senior Executive Vice President (Buildings, Minerals & Metals), L&T said, “We have ace engineering and construction capabilities, yielding a fast turnaround of healthcare infrastructure for COVID-19 care. This is another contribution from the stable of Larsen & Toubro to India’s fight against COVID-19 as the company believes in serving the nation through thick and thin. We will continue to accelerate our efforts to aid governments in providing prompt relief to citizens through critical healthcare infrastructure.”

“Apart from L&T group’s 150 Crore donation to the PM Cares Fund, looking after the welfare of 160,000+ workmen at our various work sites and contributing in cash and kind to several States for welfare, L&T has also provided medical aid worth about 40 crore comprising of PPEs, N95 masks, diagnostic kits and other medical equipment. Our hospitals business unit has been empowering several government agencies to build much needed healthcare infrastructure during this pandemic,” added Satish.

The company has been delivering transformation of the following healthcare facilities:
Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi:
Three floors of the L&T-constructed 850-bed super specialty, Safdarjung Hospital, have been converted for the care of COVID-19 patients at the request of the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Govt. of India in March 2020. As the number of positive cases and those needing medical treatment have increased, more portions of the hospital are being converted for COVID-19 care including the IPD block of Zone1. 75 beds on the 1st & 2nd floors have been converted into Isolation wards; in Zone 2, 425 beds on the 1st, 2nd & 3rd floors been converted into Special and General wards to diagnose and treat COVID-19 patients.

Indira Gandhi Hospital, New Delhi
At the request of PWD, Delhi, L&T offered 200 beds of the half-completed 700-bed Indira Gandhi Hospital at Sector 9, Dwarka, as a quarantine facility. The entire ground floor and the first floor of the OPD block with 200 beds have been made operational in extremely quick time.

Govt. Medical College and Hospital, Champaran, Bihar
L&T has handed over the ground and first floors of the Government Medical Hospital in Champaran, Bihar to accommodate 150 beds as isolation wards to treat COVID-19 patients. The conversion took just 10 days for the L&T team amidst the nationwide lockdown. It includes an emergency ward with necessary lighting and toilet facilities, a medical gas piping system, a curtain track system, a temporary septic tank, temporary power supply from the Electricity Board and a separate RCC approach road especially for the COVID-19 block.

Govt. Medical College & Hospital, Madhepura, Bihar: L&T is constructing the Government
Medical College with an intake capacity of 100 students per annum and a 500-bed college-affiliated hospital for the Bihar state government. As per the request by the State Government, L&T is modifying a block of the medical college into a COVID-19 testing lab. This state of the art BSL-3 level lab will help the state government to tackle COVID-19 cases more efficiently.

JIPMER, Phase-III, Puducherry: The modernization of the old hospital and institute buildings has been done by L&T, while expansion of SS block and setting of screening OPD set up at JIPMER, Puducherry has also been achieved. The SSB Annexure block which was designed and constructed by L&T and handed over to JIPMER in 2019, was modified to meet the requirements of the state of Puducherry to treat COVID-19 patients. In the first floor, 50 beds were converted as isolation wards and another 100 beds in the second floor were converted into a special ward. Though the project is still not fully handed over to JIPMER, this fully completed super specialty block was immediately put into use.

West Bengal Medical College, Diamond Harbour, West Bengal: In Diamond Harbour, West Bengal, L&T is designing and constructing a Government Medical College for West Bengal State Govt with an intake capacity of 100 students per annum. As per the request of the State Government, L&T is modifying a block of the medical college into a COVID-19 testing lab. This state of the art BSL-3 level lab will help the state government tackle COVID-19 cases more efficiently.

AIIMS Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh: In AIIMS Gorakhpur, L&T is designing and constructing a Government Medical College with an intake capacity of 150 students per annum and a 750- bed Hospital for the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Govt. of India. At the request of the State Govt, Uttar Pradesh, L&T is modifying a block of the medical college into a COVID- 19 testing lab which will again hasten the COVID-19 testing process.