25 private hospitals ready to chip in as vaccination hubs in Pune Metropolitan Region

PUNE: As many as 25 private hospitals equipped with intensive care units expressed their willingness to participate in the healthcare workers’ Covid-19 vaccination drive in the Pune Metropolitan Region in a meeting held with the Indian Medical Association’s Hospital Board of India on Wednesday.
“We need to expedite the vaccination of the healthcare workers who have already registered their names.For this, we need to increase the number of vaccination centres in the PMR (Pune Metropolitan Region),” said gynaecologist Aarti Nimkar, the president of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), Pune branch.

“If health officials in the district and the state allow, quite a few private hospitals in the PMR are ready to contribute as vaccination centres. All the officials have to do is to recognise their centres and create their log-in ID (identity) on the centralised CoWIN app,” said Sanjay Patil, the president of the city chapter of the IMA’s Hospital Board of India (HBI).
As a mandate, a vaccination centre needs to be equipped with an intensive care unit to function as a vaccination centre. “A total of 25 private hospitals are currently ready to chip in as vaccination centres if they are allowed. We have communicated our willingness and waiting for the civic health officials to take a call,” Patil said.
Confirming the development, Ayush Prasad, chief executive officer, Pune Zilla Parishad, said, “Quite a few private healthcare providers have approached us with plans to expedite the Covid vaccination in Pune district.”
A total of 31 Covid vaccination centres are there in the PMR at present. Currently, only five private hospitals — Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital, Bharati Hospital, Noble Hospital, Ruby Hall Clinic and Symbiosis Medical College and Hospitals — are designated as Covid vaccination centres in the PMR. Of them, three hospitals could not participate in the drive because of log-in related issues in the last two days.
Jitendra Oswal, the deputy medical director of Bharati Hospital, said, “We are ready to increase daily vaccination of willing and registered healthcare staffers, if we are allowed. The number is currently restricted to 100 every day. The log-in related issues deterred us from participating in the vaccination drive for the last two days. It is high time that the officials sort out the CoWIN-related glitches and rope in more private hospitals to expedite the vaccination across the PMR.”