Thane municipal commissioner Dr Vipin Sharma, who took charge of the lake city on Wednesday morning, says he will flatten the Covid-19 graph and ensure timely availability of treatment. Sharma replaced Vijay Singhal, who was shunted out on Tuesday amid rising Covid-19 cases. The bureaucrat from the 2005 IAS batch, who returned after completing his masters in development studies from Sussex, shares his priorities for the city...
Q: What is your immediate focus for the city, which has seen a spike in the number of Covid-19 cases?
A: I have just taken up the responsibility and analysed the situation here. We will have to live with the virus and my primary focus is obviously on reducing cases and fatalities here. You may be able to see some visible changes in the days to come.
Q: What is your analysis of the Covid-19 situation here?
A: It will be too premature to pinpoint, but I am looking at improved tracking of patients, contact tracing and curbing the spread of the virus.
Q: The city has seen patients dying on roads for lack of timely medical attention.
A: We will ensure that no patient is denied timely medical assistance. I have sought feedback and also asked my teams to ensure that instead of providing beds to asymptomatic patients, the focus should be to assign it to critical patients.
Q: The city has 22 lakh residents and it is evident that it lacks adequate medical infra, including ICUs and ventilators.
A: I am reviewing the situation and working to beef up health infrastructure.
Q: How will you tackle the acute shortage of doctors and allied staff?
A: We are in the process of hiring doctors and thrashing out issues like remuneration. Adequate staff like ANM, nurses, among others, are also being roped in so that the situation is eased.
Q: How will you tackle the private hopsitals that are either inflating medical bills or refusing patients at will?
A: I have been briefed of this serious situation. Equal and prompt attention will be given to needy patients.
Q: What is your immediate focus for the city, which has seen a spike in the number of Covid-19 cases?
A: I have just taken up the responsibility and analysed the situation here. We will have to live with the virus and my primary focus is obviously on reducing cases and fatalities here. You may be able to see some visible changes in the days to come.
Q: What is your analysis of the Covid-19 situation here?
A: It will be too premature to pinpoint, but I am looking at improved tracking of patients, contact tracing and curbing the spread of the virus.
Q: The city has seen patients dying on roads for lack of timely medical attention.
A: We will ensure that no patient is denied timely medical assistance. I have sought feedback and also asked my teams to ensure that instead of providing beds to asymptomatic patients, the focus should be to assign it to critical patients.
Q: The city has 22 lakh residents and it is evident that it lacks adequate medical infra, including ICUs and ventilators.
A: I am reviewing the situation and working to beef up health infrastructure.
Q: How will you tackle the acute shortage of doctors and allied staff?
A: We are in the process of hiring doctors and thrashing out issues like remuneration. Adequate staff like ANM, nurses, among others, are also being roped in so that the situation is eased.
Q: How will you tackle the private hopsitals that are either inflating medical bills or refusing patients at will?
A: I have been briefed of this serious situation. Equal and prompt attention will be given to needy patients.
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