Oxygen shortage: Private hospitals ask Covid patients to move out to govt facilities in Chennai

CHENNAI: Priyadharshini, a 24-year-old girl, had her uncle gasping for oxygen at a private hospital in Chennai’s Nanganallur.

On May 16, the hospital told to shift her uncle, whose oxygen saturation was at 70 per cent, to a government facility as the hospital could not afford to have him anymore due to oxygen scarcity.

This is the story in Chennai, where at least ten private hospitals have asked their Covid patients to move out to government facilities due to lack of adequate oxygen support.

“The hospital said my uncle was consuming more oxygen and his parameters were dipping. They gave one day to find a bed in a government hospital,” Priyadharshini tells Express, pointing out that she also couldn’t get a bed for three hours despite calling 104.

“We made repeated calls and no one attended in 104. However, through help from volunteers on Twitter, we managed to find a bed in Kilpauk Medical College Hospital,” she says.

The issue was the same at another private hospital in Kilpauk, where a patient whose oxygen was dipping below 80 was asked to shift to a government hospital.

“The hospital told us that they do not have oxygen support to continue treatment for my 83-year-old grandfather. They told me to vacate to a Government Hospital, and we found a bed at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital,” said Smriti, a 29-year-old resident.

Recently, Sri Balaji hospital, a private healthcare center, too had contacted the Covid-19 war room with complaints of oxygen running out and 20 patients were in support.

Taking the request, Health Minister Ma Subramanian had arranged 20 cylinders for the hospital immediately through the war room.

It is also learned from residents that the private hospitals are not accepting patients beyond an age group.

A Suriya, who had come to the Stanley Medical College Hospital with his 90-year-old grandmother, said at least four private hospitals turned her away due to her age.

“They said they can’t admit people in their late 80s and 90s as they do not have the facility to provide extended oxygen support. They told me to find a Government Hospital,” he said.

Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu government officials told Express that the oxygen shortage is a national phenomenon and the State has received only one-fifth of the oxygen that’s needed.

“We are finding measures to source oxygen through air-lifting from other states. Private hospitals can contact the war-room so that we can streamline oxygen,” the official, part of the oxygen monitoring team, told Express.