No more beds available for Covid patients at Rims

Ranchi: Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (Rims), the only state-run tertiary care hospital in Jharkahnd, has run out of space to accommodate Covid-19 patients even though the number of cases sees a steady rise. The hospital management on Monday held a meeting with the district administration, asking the latter to shift the asymptomatic patients or those with mild symptoms to other Covid centres. Ranchi DC Mahimpat Ray said they will look into the matter.
Talking to TOI on Monday, Dr Prabhat Kumar, head of the Covid-19 task force at Rims, said, “Against the 72 beds, we now have about 82 patients and the ICU and NICU units are almost full as well. We don’t have any more space to accommodate the Covid patients and the administration must explore other options.”
In its fight against the deadly virus, Rims had constructed a 100-bed facility, of which 72 were for general and rest were ICU, dialysis and NICU units.
Asked about the details of the meeting, Dr. Kumar said, “Whatever concerns we had, we conveyed them to the administrative officials. Now they have to understand the urgency of the situation and look for alternative places. Rims is a tertiary care centre and it must only be used to accommodate critical care patients. Those with asymptomatic or very mild symptoms can be admitted elsewhere.”
Another official said that many from other districts are being admitted to Rims after testing positive for Covid-19 in private hospitals, leading to the heavy flow of patients.
Besides Rims, CCL, Gandhinagar in Kanke and Paras hospital (formerly HEC) in Dhurwa are other two dedicated Covid hospitals with a capacity of 70 and 50 beds respectively. Sources in the district administration said that CCL’s capacity is almost full while Paras hospital has not admitted a single patient yet. “The administration must divert patients to Paras hospital now. We don’t know why all the load is coming to Rims only,” said a doctor on anonymity.
Ranchi DC Mahimpat Ray said existing problems will be sorted out soon. “We have been apprised about the problems at Rims and we will sort it out soon. We will accommodate patients at other places, including Paras hospital,” he added.
Over a month back, the district administration examined more than six places for setting up Covid care centres for asymptomatic patients but it is yet to build one.