AHMEDABAD: The heads of the top private hospitals treating Covid-19 patients are constantly fielding requests for a bed for a patient. About a third of the 70 member hospitals of Ahmedabad Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association (AHNA) did not have a single bed available on Tuesday evening. Another 33% had less than 20% beds vacant.
These hospitals include HCG Hospital, Sushrusha Hospital, Little Flower Hospital, CIMS Hospital, SGVP Hospital, Parekhs Hospital, Trisha Hospital, Pukhraj Hospital, Lotus Hospital, Star Hospital, Avadh Hospital, Sanjivani Hospital and Saraswati Hospital, among others.
Dr Bharat Gadhvi, medical director of HCG Hospital and president of AHNA, said that this has been the phenomenon observed over the past four days. “Multiple factors such as a change in the season, greater movement of people during Navratri and flouting of safety rules by the citizens could be responsible for the phenomenon. We urge citizens to exercise the utmost care during the festive season as the images we see of the shoppers are worrisome,” he said.
Most hospitals are witnessing a rush from the western parts of the city such as Satellite, Vastrapur, Bodakdev, Anandnagar and Gota among others, said Dr Anish Chandarana, vice president of AHNA. “We have about 40 patients in waiting at the moment. Occupancy was below 50% last week. The number of patients from other cities is minuscule,” he said.