Equipment missing at closed Noida Covid hospital? Panel to probe

NOIDA: A two-member committee has been set up by the district magistrate to probe how medical equipment went missing from a temporary Covid facility in Sector 125.
The panel, comprising additional DM finance Gunja Singh and Dr Sunil Dohare, additional chief medical officer, is expected to submit a report in the matter soon.
The hospital, an L1 facility, was started by the health department along with Tata Trust during the first wave of Covid as part of the latter’s corporate social responsibility (CSR). While the equipment was provided by Tata Trust, the manpower and management were handled by the health department.
The facility stopped functioning on December 30, 2020 and was shut down after no new cases were admitted in more than a week. It wasn’t restarted during the second wave since home isolation had been allowed by then and L1 facilities were not required. However, after it was closed, it was found that several medical equipment is now missing or cannot be tracked.
“We have asked for details of all the equipment — medical and non-medical — that were installed and whether we know where these have been shifted. Once we get the report, we’ll know if there is anything missing,” said district magistrate Suhas LY.
Sources in the health department said the facility had about 200 beds, side stools, air conditioners, coolers and some equipment like blood pressure monitors, blood glucose monitors and stethoscopes. Since it was an L1 facility, there was no large medical equipment such as oxygen cylinders, concentrators or ventilators.
According to a senior health official, “Since it was a Covid facility, equipment was most likely shifted to a store for deep sanitisation. The inquiry committee is now trying to put together the inventory and check if anything is even missing.”