MORE than 1,000 Covid-19 patients were treated at a brand new hospital in the country that dedicated a floor to the care of those infected in the thick of the pandemic.
Kims Health Hospital (KHH), a cutting-edge facility in the heart of Umm Al Hassam, missed out on a grand opening due to Covid-19 restrictions, but emerged as the only private hospital to admit infected patients.
As Covid-19 cases increased in July 2020, the hospital, under the Kims Bahrain Healthcare group, prepared its seventh floor with 32 beds to support the government’s efforts. As a result, KHH was one of the government’s admission centres for infected people until it was fully opened to the public in January last year.
“We fast-tracked the seventh floor of KHH with 32 beds, readied it for the government to be used as a Covid-19 admission facility in July 2020,” Kims Healthcare Group GCC operations executive director Jacob Thomas told the GDN.
“When the Omicron wave hit, we kept aside 28 beds for use as a private paid Covid-19 facility.
“We still have beds in our two isolation wards for Covid-19 patients, if needed.”
Kims Healthcare Group chief executive Dr Sheriff Sahadulla explained that the team adopted strict measures while converting the seventh floor to a Covid-19 facility, which he said enabled them to open the floor to others as well in due course.
“We followed strict infection control protocols and pathways which enabled us to accept both Covid and non-Covid patients at the same facility,” he said.
“The modern design of the building with ducted split zones along with UV filters, helped contain infected area inside the hospital. The elevators and parking floors were separated so that there was no inter-mingling of patients.
“The nearby Kims Bahrain Medical Centre was provided as a private triage for Covid-19 patients.
“We treated more than 1,000 patients with four doctors – two always available at a given time – and maintained a ratio of one nurse to five patients.”
Dr Sahadulla added that the facility saw no fatalities.
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