District administration officials said rooms had been booked for a month and other hotels like Dreamland near the station had also been booked for nurses, and Hotel Tourist International for Class IV staff. (Representational)
SASSOON GENERAL Hospital has hired 36 doctors, including intensivists and consulting physicians (medicine), from private hospitals to provide services to patients suffering from coronavirus (COVID-19). Each medico is allotted six hours of duty, and three professionals work in shifts for a week following which they are sent for a week’s quarantine and another lot takes over.
They are being put up in five-star hotels, according to District Collector Naval Kishore Ram. “We have booked 150 rooms at Lemon Tree and Taj Blue Diamond hotels as we want to look after the doctors, who are providing services to our COVID-19 patients at Sassoon General Hospital,” District Collector Naval Kishore Ram told The Indian Express.
District administration officials said rooms had been booked for a month and other hotels like Dreamland near the station had also been booked for nurses, and Hotel Tourist International for Class IV staff.
Ram said businessman Atul Chordia had taken the lead in gathering funds through corporate social responsibility while food vendors and caterers had been enlisted to provide quality meals.
Acting Dean of BJ Medical College and Sassoon General Hospital, Dr Murlidhar Tambe told The Indian Express that the doctors were working in three shifts. The new lot of 12 doctors, including six intensivists and six physicians, will join on Tuesday. For instance, intensivists from Galaxy Superspecialty Hospital, one each from Ruby Hall Clinic, Sahyadri Hospital and Noble Hospital are part of the team. On an average daily, there is a requirement of 12 doctors, 30 nurses and 15 Class-IV staff.
Sassoon authorities in an earlier meeting with the district administration said there were several vacancies. Posts of 11 Class I professors is vacant at BJ Medical College, another 12 Class II posts of lecturers and others are vacant, apart from 350 posts of nurses. There is also a vacancy of 475 Class-IV staff.
Four-month-old baby among discharged patients
While Sassoon General Hospital did not report any death on Tuesday, authorities said nine persons, who have recovered from COVID-19, were discharged. Among them is a four-month-old boy from Yerawada and a nine-year-old girl from Bhawani Peth. Others include a 55-year-old man from Shukrawar Peth; a 60-year-old man from Ganjpeth, who had comorbidities like hypertension and diabetes; a 40-year-old man from Mukundnagar; a 64-year-old man from Gultekdi; a 55-year-old woman from Parvati Darshan, who also had diabetes and hypertension; a 65-year-old man from Laxminagar; and a 56-year-old man from Ganeshnagar, who also had comorbidities like hypertension and diabetes.
An employee of the Central Railway, Pune, who recovered from COVID-19 and was discharged, in his feedback to the authorities said the general perception was that government organisations did not work in a proper manner. He shared his experience of the past 20 days and said he was referred to Sassoon General Hospital, which did not seem ideal for treatment and a majority of deaths were reported from this hospital.
“Initially, I was admitted due to acute respiratory syndrome with high fever and body ache. I was unable to walk for even 10 feet and felt breathlessness. I was supposed to be in the danger zone. When I was admitted on April 9 in ward 27, Dr Salvi and her entire team immediately took an X-Ray, blood samples, saturation test and other medication and, most importantly, put me on an Oximeter to control breathlessness. I became stable in the next two to three days and the management moved COVID-19 patients to the new 11-storey building. Dr Borse and his team took over and I have recovered and been discharged,” he added.