Ventilator beds increased in city hospitals

Officials said that the number of ventilator beds in private hospitals has increased after pending orders were supplied this month

Officials said that the number of ventilator beds in private hospitals has increased after pending orders were supplied this month. At least 20 of the 43 Covid-19 hospitals HT spoke to on Monday confirmed that they have increased the number of ventilators beds, by 280 in total at the 20 facilities.

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Yash Garg, the deputy commissioner of Gurugram, said that private hospitals are increasing ventilator beds as the number of patients has increased following the Covid-19 surge. “Critical patients need immediate medical support systems to prevent fatalities. This is a medical emergency and private hospitals should increase the capacity of ICU or ventilator beds,” he said.

Garg said that nine new ventilators and life support systems were installed in government hospitals, including four ventilators at Civil Hospital in Sector 10.

Garg said that at least 10% of all hospital beds must be equipped with ventilators. “The demand is increasing with the number of cases and the situation will improve within a week as more and more hospitals are procuring ventilators,” he said.

At present, only 2% of the total beds have ventilator facilities, officials of the health department said. At present, there are around 350 ventilator beds in the district.

A ventilator is a life-support apparatus that breathes for a patient who is physically unable to breathe or is breathing insufficiently. Private hospitals charge ₹20,000 to ₹40,000 per day for a ventilator.

Anil Khatana, the head of operations at W Pratiksha Hospital in Sector 56, said they only had one ventilator bed for Covid patients earlier, which has been increased to five at present, with four more in the pipeline. “The price of a ventilator has increased from ₹4.5 lakh to ₹9 lakh in the last two months. The number of patients is increasing and ventilators are required,” he said.

“We have already increased our ICU bed capacity, added more ventilators and are trying to procure more. We see admissions are predominantly for ICU beds now,” said Dr Anjali Kaul, medical superintendent of Artemis Hospitals.

Dr Subhash Khanna of Kalyani Hospital in Sector 14 said that they are increasing ventilator beds as critical patients are not finding beds in other hospitals. “Many families have to shift them to Delhi or nearby districts risking their lives without a life support system. We are increasing five more ventilator beds, but are waiting for the nursing staff. The hospitals have to increase the numbers of ventilators for serious patients to save their lives,” he said.

Dr Vikram Singh, director of Aarvy Hospital, said that at their two hospitals, the number of ventilators has been increased from 15 to 55 over 10 days. “We have demanded 20 more as the number of critical care patients is increasing and shifting a patient from one hospital to another is risking their lives. Many patients have died in this process, so we decided to increase the number of ventilators,” he said.

Amit Bhura, the facility director of Narayana Superspeciality Hospital, said that to help save more lives and be able to better serve the patients, they have added six more ventilators. “Now, we have 16 ventilators in total to treat patients from Delhi-NCR,” he said.

Many people lost their relatives and loved ones due to the non-availability of ventilators. Families find it difficult to even shift patients in critical condition.

Kriti Parmar, a resident of Sector 31, said she lost her mother last week as she could not get a ventilator bed in any of the hospitals. “We were told that demands have been sent, but they were awaiting the consignment for ventilators. We tried in six hospitals but could not get a bed anywhere. Doctors said she could survive only on ventilator support but unfortunately, we didn’t get any,” she said.