Netas, health official go for private care, show Goa govt in poor light

PANAJI: On Thursday, when the health director tested positive and preferred a private hospital to the government-designated Covid hospitals, including Goa Medical College (GMC), it raised doubts in people’s mind about the state government’s efficacy in handling the pandemic.
With a Union minister, former chief minister and a former deputy CM all getting admitted in a private hospital for treatment, it sent out a wrong signal to the public that all was not well with the health infrastructure in the state.
Health minister Vishwajit Rane dismissed the view that the politicians were preferring private hospital to a government one due to lack of infrastructure, including health director Jose D’sa.
“It is his personal choice. There is no need to create a controversy out of this,” he said.
Rane said what they lacked was private rooms. “I plan to set it up shortly,” he said, giving a broad hint that the politicians probably opted for private hospital because of it.
He said the primary duty of the government was to save lives. “We have even fulfilled requests from private hospitals. One private hospital was provided Remdesivir (a drug used for treating Covid patients), while we provided another hospital with ventilators,” he said.
But Dr Oscar Rebello, member of the expert committee constituted by the government to offer inputs on Covid management, said, “When political class and doctors in charge of Covid management opt for private healthcare, it reflects poor confidence in public health institutes for common man.”
The big problem, he said, “is the maintenance, toilets, food and other basic comforts, which need to be offered and which the government still is not able to optimise”.
Both Rane and Rebello maintained that the government doctors were doing a far better job than those in the private sector in handling the pandemic and the sheer volume of maintaining a public healthcare facility was far more difficult than a private one.
GMC dean Dr S M Bandekar said they have been trying their best to “offer the best treatment” to everyone. Three wards, dedicated for Covid treatment, became functional on Wednesday with one of the wards being designated as a high dependency unit.
“It will have a team of doctors posted specifically for the patients in that ward,” Bandekar said.
The government last week also admitted a shortage of ICU nurses and said they would recruit more nurses shortly.
Advocate Cleafato Coutinho said a person has the right to choose a doctor and hospital. But when politicians exercise that right, it sends a wrong signal to people.
“By exercising the right, they show government hospitals in poor light,” he said.