Of the 83 ventilators in the 1,350-bed State-run JJ Hospital in Byculla, 15 are non-functional.
A response filed by the hospital to the Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission (MSHRC) has revealed that 12 ventilators are awaiting repairs while spare parts are not available for three. The hospital authorities further said of the non-functional ventilators, four are from the medical intensive care unit, six from the critical care unit, and the remaining are from the wards.
Hospital dean Dr. Ajay Chandanwale, however, said the repair and maintenance of the ventilators is an ongoing process. “As and when a ventilator is repaired, another one is taken out to fix the problems if any. This is a routine process in any big hospital like ours,” he said.
Dr. Chandanwale also said at any given point of time, 10% of the entire fleet of ventilators is under repair and maintenance. However, going by the data, 18% of the ventilators at JJ are non-functional. Of the 15 non-functional ventilators, only three are old and completely out of order.
RTI activist Chetan Kothari had filed a complaint about shortage of ventilators in public hospitals at the MSHRC. JJ Hospital responded to this complaint at the hearing on April 20.