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Pune civic body to fill 97 medical posts to check Covid-19 spread
PMC floats tenders to fill posts for 13 cadres in Class 1 and Class 2 category.
Pune Given the city’s current battle to contain the spread of Covid-19 (coronavirus), Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has initiated its long pending process to recruit doctors.
The civic body on Sunday floated tenders to fill 97 posts for 13 cadres in the class 1 and class 2 category which includes neurosurgeon, cardiologist, medical superintendent (Kamla Nehru Hospital), assistant medical officer, paediatrician, radiologists, neonatologist, chest specialists, residential physician, physician, paediatric surgeon, intensivist and residential medical officer.
Additional municipal commissioner Rubal Agarwal, who heads the health department, said that more such posts will be hired in a week’s time. “Draft Merit list declared on PMC website yesterday. 13 caders and 97 posts. It will help to strengthen PMC health dept. Thanks to hon DCM sir @AjitPawarSpeaks, who gave permission for recruitment. Rest posts draft list will publish in a week,” tweeted Agarwal.
For the government-run Sassoon General Hospital too, the administration has decided to recruit doctors, besides upgrading infrastructure by adding more beds to intensive care units (ICU), and dialysis units, ventilators and other special cares.
IAS officer S Chockalingam, who has been appointed as the nodal officer to look into the infrastructure needs of the hospital, said, “We will get 80 ICU beds and the unit will be ready by third week of June. Since Sassoon is a tertiary care centre, it is obvious that most patients who come here are referred for special care or require special care, but unfortunately some of them die. We will now also recruit specialists like intensivists and chest specialists to take care of critical patients.”
Chockalingam said that more beds would mean more patients and more deaths with hospitals having a mortality rate of 2-3 per cent. Hence, the hospital has asked second year and third year students to attend to patients who are not critical.
As of Sunday, the city had 173 critical patients out of which 42 were on ventilator and 131 were serious and in ICU.
Although the government has capped the price on 80% of private hospital beds, the city would require special care for critical patients. The government has decided to take control of 80 per cent of private hospital beds. The hospitals will be allowed to charge their regular rates for the remaining 20 per cent beds. The capped charges are Rs 4,000 to Rs 9,000 for an ICU bed, including ventilator and isolation facility.
In addition to adding equipment to the health infrastructure, the administration would also need specialist doctors to handle patients and equipment for which the civic body and Sassoon General hospital have floated tenders to hire specialist doctors, said the official.
