Pune: 136 ICU beds to be added within next two days, say officials

PUNE: The shortage of ventilator-supported ICU beds continued on Monday with the dashboard set up by the divisional commissioner showing only 33 vacant units across the Pune Metropolitan Region. In PMC limits, data showed just two vacant ICU beds with ventilator support (as of 8pm, July 20). Hospitals in PCMC limits fared better, with 31 such units.
On Monday, officials announced during a meeting that 136 beds would be added — to hospitals in PMC limits — over the next two days.

In a slew of new measures, the divisional commissioner’s office also said that it would divert patients to PCMC hospitals if PMC runs out of ICU beds. Pune collector Naval Kishore Ram said non-Covid private hospitals would now be converted into coronavirus units and added that hospitals in Pune rural and cantonment limits would be asked to update bed vacancy data on the dashboard.
Ram promised that the bed shortage situation would be brought under control within the next one week.
But private hospitals in the city said they are not hiding bed vacancy details. Some hospitals were earlier faulted by administration officials for not updating live the number of vacant beds at their facilities, especially intensive care units.
Senior physician Vilas Gundecha of Inlaks and Budharani Hospital said, “Covid-19 beds at hospitals are set aside in a way that protects non-Covid patients. We cannot use any random bed for infected patients, especially if they are near non-Covid admissions. With cases rising, the earmarked Covid beds are now almost always occupied — often filling up immediately after one discharge. The dashboard gets updates on the number of patients admitted at each designated hospital. There is no question of hospitals cheating as the PMC has the list of beds. We cannot admit Covid patients if Covid beds are not available.”