DMCH installs makeshift tent hospital to handle measles crisis

Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) has nearly completed construction of a 20-bed tent-based field hospital on its premises amid a huge influx of particularly measles-inflicted children requiring immediate admission, officials said on Tuesday.

 “The (field) hospital is being built to ensure no patient is denied treatment due to lack of beds during disease outbreaks,” health minister Sardar Mohammad Sakhawat Husain told reporters while visiting the Dhaka’s main state-run medical facility.

He said the construction of the makeshift hospital was by now almost completed, which could be used as well for treating patients in case of an outbreak of diseases like dengue or cholera later.

DMCH director Brigadier General Mohammad Asaduzzaman said the main hospital would engage the required number of doctors, nurses, ward boys, and all necessary medicines to treat patients at the temporary facility.

Bangladesh Army and the Public Works Department extended their hands to DMCH authorities to build the makeshift hospital at the open spaces of the complex, ensuring proper drainage and power supply, including air conditioning systems as well.

THe Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) oversees the construction of the makeshift facility.

DGHS deputy director for hospital management Dr Syed Abu Ahammad Shafi said while the measles cases were currently on the rise, there could be an outbreak of diseases like dengue during the upcoming monsoon.

He said the tent hospital equipped with related facilities was required as the main DMCH building appeared inadequate to provide rooms during the influx of patients with such diseases.

Shafi added that the field hospital would be operated under DMCH supervision.