164 small Covid hospitals in Vadodara left gasping

Vadodara: As many as 164 small hospitals in the city that had been designated as Covid hospitals will now have to stop admitting patients needing oxygen therapy even if they have the facility for the same.
The decision was taken to rationalize the use of oxygen as the quota for Vadodara has been capped by the state government.
Vadodara had been comfortable with both oxygen and ICU beds as people were able to find one after some inquiries. The Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) has now drawn a priority list for supply of oxygen and 164 small hospitals do not find favour in the list.
According to a notification issued by officer on special duty (OSD) for Covid-19 Vinod Rao, the government treatment facilities consume 92 metric tonnes (MT) oxygen per day followed by 25 private hospitals with large capacity that consume 35MT per day categorized as Group A hospitals and 50 smaller hospitals that consume around 23MT per day as Group B.
The remaining hospitals have been categorized as Group C hospitals.
To ensure sufficient oxygen for existing patients and expansion of capacity in large facilities, government hospitals have been asked to reduce consumption by 15% while Group A and Group B have been asked to do so by 10%.
Group C hospitals will have to stop admitting new patients needing oxygen. They will be able to admit patients only on their own oxygen concentrators. These hospitals will be able to treat existing patients till discharge. They will also be given a one-time ‘SOS’ stock of oxygen to cater to patients in case they are being referred to higher facilities.