All COVID-19 ICU patients transferred to COVID-19 hospital

The final three COVID-19 patients who were being treated at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) were transferred to the Infectious Disease Hospital at Liliendaal on Friday last.

The patients were transferred successfully one at a time using an ambulance set up to replicate treatment for critical COVID-19 patients.

For the past eight months, critically ill patients were treated at GPHC which only had a capacity for 16 patients.

Minister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony in Monday’s COVID-19 Update, said up to 29 critically ill patients can be treated at the Infectious Disease Hospital.

“As of Friday what we have been able to do is to transfer all of the ICU patients that we have at GPHC over to the Ocean View facility. We currently have in the infectious disease ICU there 14 patients.

“Technically, we can have 29 patients who are severely ill and we would be able to comfortably manage them at Ocean View,” the Health Minister said.

The News Room understands the COVID-19 ICU at GPHC will be reverted to treating other emergency patients.

Minister Anthony said the ICU took a while to be up and running at the Liliendaal facility because of all the technical equipment that needed to be in place. While that was happening, the facility was being used to isolate patients with mild symptoms of COVID-19. The facility can accommodate a total of 199 persons.

“We have started using that facility for some time now and the persons we had there were mostly mild patients.”

Medical personnel were also transferred to the facility while a clinical group has developed specific guidelines on how to treat patients. Doctors, who will be at the facility, were trained to treat patients as they transition from one stage to another.

The facility will also house pre- and post-natal maternity cases. The Infectious Diseases Hospital was rehabilitated from the defunct Ocean View Hotel.