The COVID-19 pandemic has hit communities hard. The virus has often engulfed entire families which made it difficult for people to monitor and provide care at home.  For marginalised communities, the struggle became ten-fold due to the high cost of treatment, lack of facilities to isolate, and the widespread misinformation about the virus.  To address these needs of the community, the C502 facility at the Canadian International School, Yelahanka, Bangalore was set up. It is a step-down facility and unlike a COVID Care Center, this facility is a not-for-profit initiative where everything including accommodation and treatment is provided free of cost. This institute is the culmination of diligent efforts of the Humanist Center for Medicine, Cytecare Cancer Hospitals, and the  Canadian International School. With a capacity of 120 beds, it has an oxygen concentrator for each bed with 24×7 monitoring by onsite duty doctors and nurses, and 24×7 remote monitoring by intensivists from Cloud physicians. In addition to accommodation and treatment, the facility also provides free curated pre-set meals, standard tests, and medications to its patients.

With the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic also highlighting the lack of infrastructure and healthcare personnel in the country, it was a challenging task for the team to bring together the manpower and equipment to set up this centre in such a short span of time. However, with the Canadian International School providing its hostel and oxygen concentrators, and Cytecare Cancer Hospital operating and managing the facility by providing a whole gamut of services like manpower, equipment, pharmacy, lab, logistics, etc., the team was able to overcome the challenges and set up in time to provide care. The facility now runs smoothly with detailed SOPs for the overall functioning and the coordinated efforts of various stakeholders involved in it. 

The facility has been able to provide continued free-of-cost COVID-19 care and treatment with the support of its donors Humanist-Centre For Medicine, Entrepreneur Organization (EO), Give India, Swasti Health Catalyst, Param Hansa Philanthropies, and Shrimad Rajchandra Love and Care.  The joint efforts of all these entities have been able to support 61 people so far and are still continuing their efforts.

Patients who have stayed in the facility have appreciated the care and the amenities that they receive.  Mr. A (name changed) was extremely happy with the centre’s ventilation which allowed for natural sunlight to enter their rooms. He said, “While the disease is isolating, this bright, airy, vibrant natural setting aids significantly in the recovery process.” For Mr. M, the highlight of the services offered was the staff of doctors and nurses that ensured he was monitored regularly and patiently answered all his concerns. Ms. L, like many others, was fond of the food that was served to her during her stay. 

The facility is open to anyone who needs accommodation and treatment during COVID-19. Any person above 14 years of age who has a positive RT-PCR and has SPO2 above 85% on room air can contact 8861003311 and  8035090101 to access the support offered by the facility.

#COVIDActionCollab, a 326 partner-led collaborative of organizations and networks across India, lends its support C5O2. The collaborative assists the centre in reaching out to vulnerable populations, shares information, connects them to relevant organizations and resources and provides technical support.