Amritsar hospitals continue to face shortage of oxygen

The district administration and the health department are on toes as private hospitals in the district, which are running short of the oxygen supply, are refusing to admit the critical Covid-19 patients

Even after six patients died at a private Amritsar hospital for want of oxygen on Saturday, government and private hospitals in the holy city are struggling to meet the requirement of the life-saving gas.

Amritsar hospitals continue to face shortage of oxygen

The district administration and the health department are on toes as private hospitals in the district, which are running short of the oxygen supply, are refusing to admit the critical Covid-19 patients.

Six critical patients, four of them suffering from Covid-19, died on Saturday morning after the medical oxygen supply dried up at Neelkanth Multispecialty Hospital in Amritsar.

The incident has increased the hardship for the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Amritsar, the only government-run hospital in the Punjab’s Majha region with Level-3 treatment facility, as the patient load is increasing every hour. Also, the private hospitals are referring critical patients to GMCH because of oxygen crisis.

“Against the requirement of around 32 MT of oxygen per day, we are receiving only 25 to 28 MT. The private hospitals are struggling to arrange oxygen cylinders as a result of which we are asking them to refer critical patients to government hospitals,” said Amritsar deputy commissioner Gurpreet Singh Khaira.

Khaira added, “The situation is grim as the GMCH is also struggling to meet the requirement of the medical oxygen. We are making regular requests to state health department for ensuring proper supply.”

Till filing of the story, GMCH was only left with 4-5 hours of the oxygen supply while they are expecting to receive another batch of oxygen cylinders, later in the night.

GMCH medical superintendent Dr KD Singh said: “The patient load is increasing in the hospital after the Saturday incident. At present, over 200 Covid-19 patients are admitted to the hospital of which over 140 are on oxygen support. Sooner or later, the others will also require oxygen supply, but we are receiving very less supply. At least 15 MT are required in the hospital daily which will gradually increase due to more admission of the Covid-19 patients.”

The district administration has set up a Covid-19 civil control room at the Red Cross building where people can consult health experts in case of emergency. Also, people can visit the control room if they require oxygen cylinders.