Covid NEWS | Gujarat: Hospitals, hotels join hands for isolation facilities, beds

Hotels are offering these services in collaboration with hospitals at prices ranging upwards of Rs 10,000 per day. Some have also made oxygen cylinders available.

When the availability of hospital beds in Ahmedabad is at a low, a few private hospitals have collaborated with hotels in the city to set up isolation facilities and oxygen beds for patients. For a charge, these hotels provide residents with isolation facilities, meals and medical attention from the hospital’s doctors. Many also have oxygen cylinders on standby, so patients’ medical needs can be addressed.

“We have collaborated with Medilink and Shalby Hospital to help treat Covid patients. Some 45 rooms at the hotel have been dedicated to patients with mild to moderate Covid. They are provided meals and the supervision of doctors. The treatment is managed by the hospitals with daily visits by paramedics or doctors to monitor patient's health,” said Atul Buddhraja, general manager, Ramada Hotel, which has reserved at least 50% of its room inventory for Covid care. The hotel also offers isolation facilities.

Hotels are offering these services in collaboration with hospitals at prices ranging upwards of Rs 10,000 per day. Some have also made oxygen cylinders available.

Pride Hotel in Ahmedabad is another such case. Koustuv Mukherjee, group head, Gujarat, Pride Group of Hotels, said, “Patients with oxygen saturation levels of more than 94% can get admitted to our hotel. We’ve earmarked two floors with 50 rooms which are available on a single or double occupancy basis. The hotel provides patients with meals and tea. If the patient needs to consult a doctor or oxygen support, these are available and will be charged accordingly.”

A couple of other hotels on Ashram Road have also converted their properties into Covid care facilities where patients who are asymptomatic or those with mild symptoms can be isolated. The Grand Bhagwati on SG Road has also dedicated eight rooms for doctors who deployed on 104 ambulances.

Hoteliers say the initiative does not generate much revenue but provides a cushion at a time when the industry is reeling from a revenue shortage.

“Hoteliers who have converted their properties into isolation centers are getting some revenue to meet their cost of operations. The hospitality sector has been going through a bad phase for a year and the lockdown-like restrictions have only worsened it,” said Narendra Somani, president, Hotels and Restaurants Association (HRA), Gujarat.