NAGPUR: The Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) has sought the recall of some doctors deputed at Jalgaon from the city in recent months, beside appointing three IAS officers as administrators at as many medical colleges for Covid management. The civic body also requested postponing final year MBBS exams by two to three months to retain medical interns on Covid duties.
The requests were made during the video conference of chief minister Uddhav Thackeray with all district and municipal authorities on Friday.
Municipal commissioner Radhakrishnan B said, “The manpower crunch was one of the reasons leading to shortage of beds in the city. We requested the government to send back doctors now deputed at Jalgaon. We also requested the state to postpone the exam of medical interns so that we get more manpower for Covid work.”
The civic chief said infrastructure was not an issue, but manpower is causing the ongoing crisis.
Regarding worsening state of affair in city, he said as cases are rising, it is a fact that now you can’t chose a hospital. “We asked hospitals to effectively follow discharge protocol and step down process. By this we will be able to generate additional beds. We are also trying to augment beds with 50 to 60 more private hospitals. We are trying to augment oxygen supply as well,” he said, adding that citizens must call up the NMC helpline to find beds.
He added that NREGA commissioner Shantanu Goyal will be looking after AIIMS, tribal commissioner Manisha Khatri at GMCH, and MD of mining corporation Pradeep Chandran at IGGMCH. “They will ensure smooth management of beds, manpower and hospital related issues. They will look after administration,” he said.
Radhakrishnan said work for setting up additional 200 beds at AIIMS is under way. “They must be able to start them in next couple of weeks. We are also starting oxygen beds at Pachpaoli CCC, which is a testing centre also,” he said.