Thane enlists 4 private hospitals, adds 205 more Covid-19 beds

THANE: The Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) added nearly 205 Covid beds by enlisting four private hospitals to treat Covid-19 patients.
This development comes soon after TMC shut down a private facility following complaints of overcharging last week. Experts had then raised concerns that with the facility, nearly 80 beds had been taken off the network—which could be dangerous if the number of cases escalated.
The four new private hospitals are Siddhivinayak General Hospital, Atlantis Hospital, Avenue Vedant Hospital and Highland Hospital. Presently, there are 17 facilities catering to Covid patients in Thane, including the Civil Hospital. There are 2,368 beds in total, of which 1,422 are vacant.
Civic commissioner Dr Vipin Sharma said that across Thane and the suburbs, 51 ICU beds and 153 oxygen units had been added. “Though there is no emergency now as the requirement of beds has reduced, the availability ratio is higher now. We have readied ourselves to meet any future requirement,” he said, adding that another 800 beds would soon be available at the two Covid healthcare centres coming up at Diva and Shilphata.