E-Paper
COEP jumbo facility blames oxygen shortage for not running at full bed capacity
PUNE In August 2020, Pune got its first Covid-19 dedicated jumbo facility, constructed on the grounds of College of Engineering Pune (COEP)
PUNE In August 2020, Pune got its first Covid-19 dedicated jumbo facility, constructed on the grounds of College of Engineering Pune (COEP).
The facility has a capacity of 800 beds - 600 oxygenated and 200 ICU.
However, despite the facility till date, has never operated at capacity.
As of May 16, COEP has 700 operational beds which the civic body plans to increase it to 740. That would be still 60 beds short of its planned capacity.
The agency which runs the facility said that the facility could not meet its capacity because of the shortage of oxygen, and is still dependent on external oxygen supply.
The COEP jumbo facility was inaugurated online by CM Uddhav Thackeray on August 24, almost six months after the first Covid case was detected in Pune on March 9, 2020.
In September 2020, the city saw the peak of the first wave, and in April the second wave hit harder. During both periods, citizens faced a shortage of oxygenated and ICU beds. Incidents where people lost their lives to the infection as they could not get the right treatment and admission into any hospital, are rife.
Dr Shreyansh Kapale, director of Medbros, which is running the facility, said, “The facility could not operate at full capacity because of the oxygen shortage. Currently, we have 700 beds and during the last peak we could not admit more patients as the existing oxygen capacity was just enough for the existing patients. Currently, the number of new cases is going down and we have enough oxygen.”
Dr Kapale said there is no shortage of staff or financial aid restricting the facility.
The PMC now plans to add 40 more beds to the facility which will bring the total number to 740. Of the 700 beds, 520 are oxygenated beds, 119 are ICU beds without a ventilator, and 61 have ventilators.
