Maharashtra's districts compete to hire healthcare staff as cases continue to rise

Mumbai: As Covid cases surge to worrying numbers in Maharashtra, districts are now engaged in a tussle with each other to get health care personnel to fill an acute shortage of doctors and nurses and other health care personnel.
District and civic bodies in Maharashtra are desperately floating tenders and dialling up man power providers seeking doctors/nurses/ward boys/lab technicians to stanch the rising tide of Covid cases. Maharashtra has been adding thousands of cases per day. The state added 23,350 cases on Sunday alone. The Sangli administration, currently facing a spurt in cases, floated a tender to get health care personnel. Nashik, which is also facing a spike in cases, is planning to do it next week.

Other districts are also in the race contacting man power services providers to get health care personnel. By all accounts, the districts are struggling to get doctors.

“I have been getting calls from Chandrapur, Sangli and other districts. Everyone is looking out for doctors, nurses and ward boys. However, while we have nurses and ward boys, we are facing issues getting doctors,” said Nilesh Mangale of Rising Facility Managemen,t a man power services provider.

An IAS official in one of the impacted districts that has already arranged for health care personnel said the scramble between the districts could have been avoided if the state had taken a proactive role in allocating resources.

“It seems every district has been left to fend for itself in getting health care personnel. The state should take a lead role in allocating resources. Here, some districts might get lucky in getting doctors and others would struggle,” said the official who did not want to be identified.

MPs like Heena Gavit from Nandurbar, a district in the northern part of the state, has already complained that doctors who are already short staffed in her district are being asked to report to work in other districts. Government officials said the state should have anticipated this and should have had a proper mechanism in place, especially since the state had already seen such a shortage.