24x7 monitoring on the cards at CoEP makeshift hospital in Pune

PUNE: The civic body and the district administration on Thursday decided to appoint three officials for putting in place a 24x7 system to monitor functioning of the 800-bed makeshift Covid-19 hospital on the CoEP grounds.

The administration took the decision a day after a city-based television journalist succumbed to Covid-19 at the College of Engineering, Pune (CoEP) jumbo facility. Pandurang Raykar, 42, was admitted to the facility on Monday night. His family claimed he died waiting for emergency medical transport that was supposed to take him to a hospital after he suffered a serious drop in oxygen levels.
The three officials will work in an eight-hour shift for the management of beds and ventilators at the makeshift Covid-19 treatment hub. “Senior-level officials will monitor its functioning and ensure proper management,” Pune divisional commissioner Saurabh Rao said.
The death of three patients, including that of Raykar on Wednesday, and shifting of at least 20 others within a week in the absence of adequate support, oxygen supply and manpower have raised questions about the efficacy of the 800-bed hospital on the CoEP grounds.
Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) commissioner Vikram Kumar said the civic administration has initiated measures to ensure better facilities for the patients.
“The patients need to go for trial test before going for final admission to the jumbo hospital. The number of beds available was few. But it is now being increased. As a result, the waiting period for the patients’ admission has reduced,” he said.
Inaugurated by chief minister Uddhav Thackeray last month, the facility is still functioning at 50% of its capacity. Many patients and their relatives have complained about problems such as delay in getting admission, absence of expert medical staffers, poor food facilities and inadequate information about the health updates of people recuperating in the hospital.
Sassoon General Hospital authorities on Thursday decided not to shift patients to the CoEP facility, as the beds available in the makeshift hospital were full. Settlement commissioner and officer in-charge of managing Sassoon General Hospital S Chockalingam said, “In the current scenario, we feel it will not be possible to shift the patients to the jumbo facility, We will manage the oxygen supply repair work at Sassoon hospital in phases.”
Health minister Rajesh Tope said he has told the Pune collector to address this issue. “We will check whether the patients can be kept at Sassoon itself or shifted to any other facility,”he said,
Pune divisional commissioner Saurabh Rao said since the Sassoon General Hospital was not admitting any more Covid patients, people detected with the infection were being sent to the CoEP facility. Rao said he was ready to arrange “green corridors” for shifting some patients to the Magar stadium and Baner facilities.