Rush of patients from other dists push hospital bed occupancy in Vadodara

According to data shared by Vadodara Municipal Corporation, 182 patients from the city sought hospitalisation Monday, while around 116 patients from other districts sought admission in various city hospitals.

OSD Vinod Rao said, “Over the last two days, we have seen a sudden and steep increase in hospital admission of Covid-19 patients from outside the district. Most of the patients are coming at a critical stage and hence directly occupy ICU and ventilator-equipped beds. These patients are from Panchmahals, Bharuch, Chhota Udepur, Anand, Kheda, Narmada and Mahisagar districts.” The number of new patients from Vadodara city and rural areas, he added, were stabilising.

The administration is now working to set up 50 new oxygen-equipped beds by 8 am Tuesday at GMERS-run Gotri hospital while 20 more have been identified at the plastic surgery ICU of the hospital. These 70 oxygen beds will be ready by Thursday, Rao said, taking the capacity of the hospital from 575 to 715 beds. The administration is installing 10 more ventilators at Gotri hospital Monday that will up its capacity to 155.

Officials said there was a high demand for critical care beds. Of the 1,476 available ICU beds, close to 1,300, they said, were currently occupied. “We are reviewing the situation at SSG and Gotri hospitals. We are ensuring that nobody, who is entitled for facility care, is denied service. Depending on case to case, we are also diverting patients to Dhiraj Hospital, Pioneer Hospital and Parul Hospital. We have installed 15 ventilators tonight for free treatment category patients at Pioneer Hospital. We will create 20 more beds at B2 ward and an additional 15 beds at G1 ward of SSG Hospital on Monday night using oxygen concentrators,” Rao said.

On March 10, only five patients from outside Vadodara district were admitted at hospitals in the city. The figure rose to 26 on April 2 and 110 on April 4. The highest single-day admission of 268 patients from Vadodara city was recorded on April 3 — on March 28 there were 265 admissions, 261 on March 19 and 241 on March 22. Patients from Vadodara rural have also been seeking hospitalisation — the highest single-day admission from Vadodara rural being 100 on March 26 and 53 on April 1, in the ongoing wave.

On Monday, the capacity for Covid-19 treatment was increased from 150 to 300 beds at Parul University in Waghodia too. The facility was opened up as a “free-treatment hospital” with 15 functional ventilators, of which 10 are currently occupied. Ten ventilators will be added to the facility Monday night.

At Dhiraj Hospital in Sumandeep University, 175 of the total 300 beds for free treatment are occupied. Of the 40 ventilators, 20 are available. This capacity will be increased to 1,000 oxygen-equipped beds, including 200 ICU beds and 100 ventilators within the next three days,” Rao said.

The district administration has also met IOC Ltd officials and urged them to create a facility of 500 beds in the next five days.