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Bihar cracks whip on pvt hospitals refusing Covid patients
PATNA
PATNA
Cracking the whip on private hospitals in the state reluctant to treat Covid-19 patients, the Bihar government Tuesday authorised district magistrates to identify such health facilities in Covid management in their respective jurisdiction while Patna health adminsitration notified 290 beds for Covid patients across 18 private health facilities in the state capital.
The decision to force private hospitals into Covid managment was taken at a meeting chaired by chief secretary Deepak Kumar.
“The government has authorised district magistrates to identify private health facilities in Covid management,” said Anupam Kumar, secretary, Information and Public Relations Department, Bihar, during the media briefing on Tuesday.
Patna civil surgeon Dr Raj Kishore Chaudhary on Monday issued an order notifying 290 beds for Covid-19 patients across 18 private health facilities in the state capital.
He said the government had to force the reluctant private facilities into treating Covid-19 patients. “The private facilities will have to treat Covid-19 patients in times of pandemic. If they do not, we will lodge FIRs against them. The government can even take over their hospitals, along with their staff and doctors and force them into treating Covid-19 cases,” said Dr Chaudhary.
Among the 18 private centres the Patna district administration had asked to keep isolation beds for Covid-19 patients are Hitech Emergency, GS Neuroscience (10 beds each), Arvind Hospital (13), Medical Magadh Hospital, Dr Bimal Hospital & Research Center (25 beds each), Heart Hospital (14), Murlidhar Memorial Hospital (10), Anup Institute of Orthopaedic, AS Nursing Home (4), Paras HMRI Hospital (30), Curris Hospital (18), Mahavir Vatsalya Hospital (14), Palm View Hospital, Midversal Hospital (12 each), Ruban Memorial Hospital, Patliputra Colony (40), Tara Hospital, near Gandhi Maidan (9), Buddha Cancer Centre (7) and Nestva Hospital (12).
These hospitals have 1,254 beds in total, with 343 ICU beds, of which 72 had ventilator facility in them, according to the order issued by the Patna civil surgeon.
“As of now, we have asked private hospital to allot 25% of their total beds for management of Covid patients. Going ahead, if need arises, we will ask them to convert the entire hospital into dedicated Covid facility,” said Dr Chaudhary.
Despite the Patna district administration having issued the order on Monday, with explicit instructions to the management of private hospitals to begin Covid-19 isolation facility with immediate effect, most of these facilities were yet to begin admitting such cases on Tuesday.
Earlier, the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), which has large facilities Bihar, had complained firsrt to the Bihar government, and a week later to the Centre, that private hospitals emplanelled by the PSU were refusing to treat its employees who had tested postive for Covid-19.
In addition to better management of its healthcare facilities, the central team, which was here for two days beginning Sunday, had asked the state government to increase the number of beds in view of the sharp rise in Covid-19 cases.
As on Tuesday, Bihar reported 28,564 Covid-19 cases, with case doubling rate of 12 days. If infections were to grow at this rate, Bihar could cross 1 lakh cases in less than a month, for which the state had to be prepared, the team had pointed out during its discussion with senior state functionaries.
