HEALTHTECH STARTUP MEDDO LAUNCHES COVID CARE FACILITIES (L1) TO ADDRESS HOSPITAL BED CRISIS

12th May 2021: A crippling paucity of hospital beds, oxygen cylinders and medical professionals has heralded a frightening state of affairs in the country. Gurugram (Delhi-NCR, India) based healthtech startup Meddo (meddo.in) has stepped forward to stem the tide in its own way, by launching COVID-19 L1 Care Facilities in partnership with Treebo Hotels. The idea behind the initiative, which went under way in the first week of May, is to help patients with mild to moderate symptoms get access to medical facilities in the initial phase of the infection, so that the need for hospitalization, oxygen concentrators and ICUs can be avoided. The parallel aim of the initiative is to support hospital infrastructure and is available to patients free of cost at the moment. The operations will be funded by the Meddo Foundation.

 

GREEN SIGNALLED 

Approval for setting up 100-150 beds across the three care centres has been received from Gurugram authorities. The first centre, which has already been launched, has 25 rooms and can handle up to 40-50 patients. Treebo hotel rooms are being equipped with medical facilities to ensure delivery of COVID care. Meddo is going LIVE with three care facilities in Gururgram, while two more are expected to be launched within the next week.

The government has classified different health centres under L1, L2 and L3 levels, with L1 catering to non-critical patients, while L2 and L3 will deal with more complicated and critical COVID-19 cases. “We have set up L1 facilities equipped with doctors, nurses, and oxygen concentrators to make sure that the need for hospitalisation comes down. We are providing care to patients with mild to moderate symptoms in the early phase, thereby reducing the chances of the infection worsening,” explained Saurabh Kochhar, Founder and CEO of Meddo. “Meddo’s existing partner doctors will visiting the facilities and take care of the patients. Apart from this, we have already rolled out job offers to about 25 nurses. Among them, eight of the nurses have been deployed at the first centre”, Saurabh adds.
 

CHALLENGES

“The major challenge that we are facing right now is getting access to concentrators. While other medical needs for the patients are already available at care facilities, we are looking for leads to purchase or import concentrators,” Saurabh says. He explains that patients whose oxygen levels have slipped below 88 might need heavy medication, ICU care, or constant monitoring. Those with levels circling around 90 can seek help from the L1 care facilities to prevent their situation from deteriorating further.

 

MEDDO’S COVID ECOSYSTEM 

Apart from this, Meddo has also announced its partnership with District Administration Gurugram for their official COVID-19 relief WhatsApp chatbot. With this, Meddo will enable users to connect with over 200 doctors across Delhi-NCR for teleconsultations. 

 

ABOUT MEDDO 

Meddo was launched in 2018 by Saurabh Kochhar, Former Foodpanda CEO, and Dr Naveen Nishchal, Co-founder of Cygnus Hospitals, with an aim to organise the OPD services sector in India. 

*This story is published by VOH team*

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