Pune private hospitals commit additional 800 beds for Covid patients

While District Collector Naval Kishore Ram said he strongly feels there is no dearth of hospital beds in Pune district, and that an “artificial shortage” was being created by some hospitals, he told The Indian Express that strict measures will have to be taken to ensure adequate bed strength at each hospital for Covid-19 patients.

The Indian Express had earlier reported that there were limited beds with oxygen supply and ICU beds with ventilators. Several private hospitals had admitted then that they had no space for new coronavirus patients. Anticipating a rise in cases, Shekhar Gaikwad, Pune Municipal Commissioner said a meeting was held with private hospitals on Thursday to reconcile as to how many additional beds can be allocated.

According to Commissioner at Tribal Research and Training Institute Pavneet Kaur, who is also the nodal officer coordinating the allocation of hospital beds for Covid-19 patients, at least 17 hospitals have committed additional beds, and by July 20, there will be 700 more beds with oxygen supply and 105 ICU beds.

The hospital-wise bed availability is reflected on the coronavirus dashboard set up by Pune Divisional Commissioner’s office, and while information on it is subject to the data filled in by hospitals themselves, the civic administration has warned that it will not tolerate any delay in reporting new admissions and discharge data of patients. “We have already issued show cause notices to some hospitals,” Kaur said. Presently, there are 27 hospitals in PMC area and 109 across the district that have been designated for Covid patient care.

Vinod Sawantwadkar, CEO of Jehangir Hospital, said they had already admitted 96 coronavirus patients and have committed to add extra beds. “It is a tough challenge, given the current infrastructure and that the patient flow has increased in other sections. Still, we are setting aside more beds for Covid-19 patients,” he said.

While Bharati Hospital’s medical director Dr Sanjay Lalwani has committed another 100 beds, at Ruby Hall Clinic, medical director Rs Sanjay Pathare said an entire building has been designate for Covid-19 patients. From the present 130 beds, an addition 20 will be set aside for coronavirus care. At Sahyadri Hospital, general manager Dr Sunil Rao said they had allocated 170 beds across different centres, and will add another 30.

Ruby hall ties up with hotel to observe asymptomatic patients

Among major reasons for the shortfall of beds are asymptomatic Covid-19 patients occupying hospital beds. For this, in a pilot project, Ruby Hall Clinic has tied up with a hotel in the vicinity and appointed a nurse and a doctor to monitor the health of asymptomatic patients.

“There are 10 such Covid-19 positive patients who are asymptomatic, but do not have adequate space at home or have other family concerns. We have tied up with Hotel Kapila, which will provide catering services,” Dr Sanjay Pathare, medical director at Ruby Hall Clinic said.

Vinod Sawantwadkar, CEO of Jehangir Hospital said at least 35 patients are in home isolation and have availed home care packages, and Dr Sunil Rao at Sahyadri Hospital said they have more than 20 patients in home isolation.

Dr Sanjay Lalwani from Bharati Hospital said they are setting up a home isolation cell at their hospital and will offer counselling services, home kits and helpline numbers. “Home isolation of asymptomatic Covid-19 patients is the only way we can help critical patients avail hospital beds,” Dr Lalwani said.