Patna: Packed hospitals continue to turn away Covid-19 patients

PATNA: Most beds in Covid wards of government and private hospitals of Patna are full to their capacity. Though the status of bed occupancy is changing every few minutes with discharge of patients, the load remains almost the same as the hospitals hurriedly call the serious ones on their waiting list to rush for bed.
Sounds of screeching sirens of ambulances continue even during the night curfew imposed by the government to check further spread of the deadly virus.
Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) had all its 105 beds in the Covid ward occupied on Saturday. PMCH superintendent Dr I S Thakur said there was little scope to increase the number of Covid beds as all its other departments, OPDs, emergency and surgery units were functioning as usual.
“About 350 to 400 non-Covid patients visit the OPDs per day. Several others are undergoing treatment in different wards despite the fact that 70 doctors and other medical staff are still in home isolation after contracting Covid,” he said.
Likewise, the Covid ward at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences-Patna (AIIMS-P) had all its 270 beds, including 60 ICUs, occupied on Saturday. “We had to decline admission to about 60 patients in 24 hours. Phones of all officials continue ringing all the time, but we could not help all,” said Dr Sanjeev Kumar, the hospital’s nodal officer for Covid.
Nalanda Medical College and Hospital (NMCH), however, had 136 beds vacant in the Covid ward on Saturday. “Of the 500 beds, 364 are full. The rest of 136 beds, including some with oxygen support, are vacant for Covid patients,” said Dr Satish Kumar, deputy superintendent of the hospital.
All 100 beds for Covid patients at the Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences stood full till evening on Saturday. Its medical superintendent Dr Manish Mandal said some beds marked for doctors are also full.
The Ruban Memorial Hospital has stopped admission of new patients for two days in a bid to “conserve oxygen”. “All 186 Covid beds are full. We have stopped admitting new patients till Monday,” hospital’s managing director Dr Satyajeet Singh said.
All 119 beds at Paras HMRI were also full on Saturday. “We have created a Covid war room which will function 24 x7 to receive calls and maintain waiting list of serious Covid patients,” hospital’s regional director Dr Talat Halim said.
The Ford Hospital, which has extended the number of its Covid beds from 55 to 75, also had no unoccupied bed on Saturday. “We are getting dozens of calls for beds. However, nothing can be done under the present circumstances,” hospital’s quality manager Pradeep Sharma said.
The Jagdish Memorial Hospital, which has the capacity to accommodate 32 Covid patients, had to refuse admission to 65 patients in the last 24 hours. “As the short supply of oxygen still persists, we are unable to admit new patients,” hospital’s director Dr Alok Kumar said.