MARGAO
With the hospital stopping the intake of Covid patients for close to a fortnight now, the ESI hospital at Margao has become a subject matter of debate “ whether the 220-bedded hospital will be kept as a back-up facility in the event of a spike in cases or will it return to its normal duties of attending to the beneficiaries under the ESI scheme for workers?
These and other questions have come to the fore as the government is yet to take a call on the future of the ESI hospital as 13 days have passed since the hospital has stopped admitting Covid patients.
The Goan understands that the ESI hospital management headed by Medical Superintendent Dr Vishwajit Faldesai has begun the exercise of sanitizing and cleaning the hospital, with the hope that it will be opened for the ESI beneficiaries.
In fact, it is learned that painting work is presently underway in the ESI hospital as the management has decided to go for a clean-up and fully sanitize the hospital before the facility is once again thrown open for ESI beneficiaries.
The last Covid patient undergoing treatment at the ESI hospital had expired on December 9 and since then the hospital had stopped admitting patients, with the government converting the South Goa district hospital as a full-fledged Covid hospital.
ESI Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Faldesai has already submitted a detailed report to South Goa District Collector, Ajit Roy, on the ESI functioning since it was requisitioned under the Disaster Management Plan on March 16 last.
The government, however, is yet to take a final call on how to go about the matter, whether to de-notify the ESI hospital facility immediately or wait for the Covid situation to further subside before the facility is opened up again for ESI beneficiaries.
The ESI hospital, Margao played host to around 2605 patients during the nine months when it was converted into a full-fledged Covid hospital. During the nine-month period, the hospital had recorded 214 deaths, but sources say the hospital had registered an impressive 92 per cent recovery rate despite the shortcomings.
Sources in the Labour department informed that the Labour officials are keen to resume the ESI hospital in the 100-bedded hospital, which was later upgraded to 220-bedded capacity during the Covid pandemic, so that the ESI beneficiaries can avail of treatment in the hospital once again.
“The earlier the District Collector, South, de-notifies the ESI hospital as a Covid hospital, the better for the thousands of ESI beneficiaries, who had to fend for themselves as the dedicated hospital was requisitioned for Covid,” remarked a senior official.
He added: “The ESI hospital may no longer be required for Covid work even as a back-up facility given that the South Goa district hospital has a capacity to accommodate 500 patients at a time, with provision to further upgrade the intake capacity if the top two floors of the hospital are utilized for the purpose”.
