32 ventilators lying unused to be installed in Mohali hospitals

Ventilators were received nine months ago under PM Cares Fund, but the installation remained pending due to unavailability of oxygen generation plant,paucity of technical manpower

After Hindustan Times reported that 32 ventilators were gathering dust at the upcoming Dr BR Ambedkar State Institute of Medical Sciences, Mohali, for the last nine months, the district administration on Monday swung into action.

Mohali has emerged as a medical tourism destination with 30 private hospitals, having top-class facilities, catering to patients from the region. These currently have 256 ICU beds, of which 240 were occupied as on Sunday. There are three major government-run civil hospitals in Phase-6, Kharar and Dera Bassi. (HT FILE PHOTO)

Five ventilators will be installed at the civil hospital in Phase-6; 15 will be made available for the upcoming 104-bed makeshift Covid hospital; while 12 others will be installed at another 100-bed facility being created in the district with the support of the army.

HT had reported that several parts of the state were reeling under an acute shortage of critical care facilities for Covid-19 patients and the number of active cases had crossed the 9,000 mark. Mohali is among the nine worst-hit districts of Punjab, where more than 22,000 Covid cases and 180 deaths have been reported since April 1.

Deputy commissioner of Mohali, Girish Dayalan, said that all 32 ventilators will be made operational in about twenty days.

‘We’re working on war footing’

Dr Bhavneet Bharti, director principal of the upcoming Dr BR Ambedkar State Institute of Medical Sciences, said, “We are working on a war footing; appointment letters have been issued to the faculty to ensure human resources are in place while the faculty joins. Arrangements are being made for setting up an oxygen generation plant to ensure uninterrupted supply to the institute. We are well aware that the health facilities in the district are overwhelmed by the sudden surge in Covid cases. So we are trying our best to meet the manpower and the equipment challenges, and will hopefully get a go ahead as soon as the team of the National Medical Council conducts the inspection of the facility.”

The ventilators were received nine months ago under PM Cares Fund, but the installation remained pending due to unavailability of an oxygen generation plant and paucity of technical manpower. The ventilators also needed some software up-gradation for which a technician from Bharat Electronics Limited (BHEL) had been contacted, said DC.

On April 27, Hindustan Times had reported how eight ventilators, which the civil hospital in Phase-6 had bought around eight months ago, were lying unused due to a lack of infrastructure and staff to operate them. The next day, the hospital authorities had handed over the ventilators to two private hospitals in Mohali—Max and Fortis.

Mohali has emerged as a medical tourism destination with 30 private hospitals, having top-class facilities, catering to patients from the region. These currently have 256 ICU beds, of which 240 were occupied as on Sunday. There are three major government-run civil hospitals in Phase-6, Kharar and Dera Bassi.