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Covid patients from Delhi looking for beds in Mohali hospitals
As the National Capital Region is reeling under a shortage of beds as well as oxygen, the kin of Covid-19 patients have been making enquiries at private hospitals in Mohali in order to shift them here
Twenty-five Covid-19 patients from Delhi and Gurugram have been admitted to Gian Sagar Hospital in Banur.
With National Capital Region reeling under a shortage of beds as well as oxygen, the kin of Covid-19 patients have been making enquiries at private hospitals in Mohali in order to shift them here. Some people are even making frantic calls to government hospitals for beds.
Dr SPS Goraya, medical superintendent of Gian Sagar Hospital, said all 25 patients are confirmed cases and have been shifted here as they failed to get beds in Delhi and Gurugram. “We have 25 ICU beds and 45 beds for L-2 (moderate) cases. We are not refusing admission to anyone,” he said .
Mohali, which has emerged as a medical tourism hub, has around 30 private hospitals with state-of-the-art facilities.
Dr Ankush Mehta, general manager, Max Hospital, said: “We are daily getting around 10 calls of Covid patients from the national capital. But we are helpless, as we have a limited number of beds and are giving preference to patients from the region.”
Dr Mehta said he even got a call from Lucknow and the family was ready to airlift the patient, but “we could not help them”.
“We are not only getting calls from Delhi, but from other states as well,” said Dr Abhijit Singh, zonal director, Fortis Hospital, while adding that the hospital has sufficient beds and oxygen for patients from this region.
Dr Adarshpal Kaur, civil surgeon, “Even though we don’t have Level-3 facilities (for critical cases) in our government hospitals, people from Delhi and nearby areas are calling for ICU beds.”
Pvt hospital occupancy close to 95%
The two government hospitals for Covid-19 patients (civil hospitals in Phase 6 and Dhakoli) have around 100 beds, but only for Level-2 cases. As many as 35 of these are occupied. Meanwhile, private hospitals have around 600 Level-2 beds and 215 Level-3 beds, and their overall occupancy is close to 95%.
Sandeep Singla, a Delhi resident, said: “We have not been able to get a hospital bed in Delhi for my father-in-law, who is 82-year-old and suffering from Covid-19. I have even tried calling all private hospitals in Mohali, but they have refused to help.”
Mohali deputy commissioner Girish Dayalan said: “We have directed the private hospitals to give preference to patients of our district, and outsiders should be admitted only in case of a major medical emergency.”
Dayalan said that there is a lot of pressure on the health infrastructure as more than 80% Covid beds are occupied. “But constant vigil is being maintained, so that critical patients face no hassle in admission to a suitable health facility,” he said, during his visit to the Dera Bassi subdivisional hospital on Friday.
