Several top private hospitals have of late been reporting 100% occupancy and an increase in demand. (Express photo by Praveen Khanna) As private hospitals in Gurgaon see a surge in demand for beds for Covid patients, with several reporting full occupancy, officials from the health department have revealed that a survey of private hospitals will be conducted to take action if they are found to be admitting patients suffering from cases of milder infection which can stay in home isolation.
“On Tuesday, we told hospitals that they cannot admit every person. They have to take in people as per the necessary guidelines. We are going to conduct a survey to make sure this happens. Patients who are suffering from milder cases of infection should not be admitted,” said Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Virender Yadav.
“If hospitals do not follow these protocols, show-cause notices will be served on them. If they don’t comply, we will take strict action against them,” he said.
Several top private hospitals have of late been reporting 100% occupancy and an increase in demand.
Among these is Park Hospital, which officials say is fully occupied. The facility has 52 beds for Covid patients.
“People are panicking — whenever they test positive, they are getting hospitalised. Any patient who can get home isolation, we are recommending that for them so that we can accommodate more serious patients. This wave is much more infectious and it is spreading very fast…We are getting patients who need to be put on ventilators. Many need to be on oxygen support,” said Dr P N Kakkar, CEO of Park Hospital, Gurgaon.
He added, “The other trouble right now is with medications, Remdesivir has gone out of the market and that is a dangerous situation…the government has to come into action for that. If there is anyone hoarding the drug, put them behind bars.”
At Fortis Memorial Research Institute, officials said there has been a “significant rise” in the demand for beds.
“There has been a sudden surge in cases. We are making arrangements to increase the number of beds for Covid patients in wards and ICUs in compliance with guidelines given by the district administration. We are also ramping up the general medical infrastructure and dedicated areas to be able to deal with the larger volume of patients,” said Dr Ritu Garg, zonal director, Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurgaon.
She added, “We are also in the process of procuring more equipment like ventilators and monitors to be able to cater to sicker patients. One of the constraints we may face in the coming days is the manpower support, however, the teams on ground are geared up to tackle the situation.”
Deputy Commissioner Yash Garg acknowledged that the Covid surge is “putting pressure on the health infrastructure”, but added that further reservation of beds for Covid patients will “depend on the circumstances”.
On Tuesday, Garg had directed hospitals to reserve at least 40% of beds in the general category and 70% in the ICU and ventilator categories for Covid patients.
“In the second wave, the country on a daily basis is seeing almost double the number of cases witnessed in the first wave. We have increased the allocation of ICU beds for Covid. Further reservation will depend on the circumstances. We also have to treat serious patients who are suffering from ailments apart from Covid,” said Garg.
He added, “The problem is we have more serious patients because Covid patients from other districts also come to Gurgaon. Many of them are from Delhi as hospitals there are facing a shortage of beds. As of now, we are managing. But if things keep changing, the directives will also change accordingly.”
CMO Dr Yadav, meanwhile, offered reassurance that the district is equipped to deal with the situation.
“The demand at certain hospitals may be higher, but we have a lot of vacant beds in the district. There are more than 600 vacant beds that can accommodate patients. In terms of equipment too, we have no problem. We have 50,000 to 60,000 spare PPE kits right now,” he said.
The data compiled on occupancy across government and private hospitals shows that 19% of beds (419 out of 2,196) with oxygen support reserved for Covid patients are currently occupied. Out of the 495 ICU beds reserved for Covid patients, 21% (104) are occupied and of the ventilator beds reserved, 15% (35 out of 233) are occupied.
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