PANAJI
Health Minister Vishwajit Rane on Tuesday announced that Goa’s private medical sector has agreed to reserve a combined space of 250 beds across the state for Covid patients following a meeting convened with the representatives of all private hospitals to discuss the management of Covid patients in private facilities.
Since the outbreak of the pandemic last year, only a select few larger private hospitals had chipped in with a combined space of 76 Covid beds.
Following the meeting, Rane announced, “The representatives have voluntarily decided to increase their bed capacity to manage the increasing number of patients by reserving 250 additional beds in their respective facilities. A nodal officer will be appointed to ensure seamless coordination with the private hospitals.”
Interestingly, the Health Minister said that there will be no formal government order to enforce this decision.
Sources from the private medical sector, however, have accused the Health Minister of arm-twisting. Speaking on conditions of anonymity, a member of a private hospital management said, “Everyone was asked to specify their bed strength and we were ordered to reserve 20 per cent beds for Covid patients or we would not receive any oxygen supply.”
Murmurs about the acute shortage of oxygen at almost every private hospital in the state have grown louder over the last week with Rane himself stating that while the oxygen requirement at all government Covid hospitals has shot up, it is expected to double over the coming days.
The Health Minister is on record that one company has been asked to provide oxygen exclusively to Goa Medical College and Hospital, Bambolim, while Govind Poi Raiturkar and another company has been directed to take care of hospitals in the South.
Inquiries with oxygen manufacturing companies revealed that they are presently producing to their maximum capacity.
The scramble for oxygen reportedly commenced within the Health Department since the last week when certain critical Covid patients were left needing more oxygen supply.
Meanwhile, Health Minister also chaired a virtual meeting with all the HODs of GMC to review preparedness. He instructed them to maintain sufficient stock of medicines, to ensure that the staff on Covid and non-Covid duty are equipped with protective gears, set up Ward 121 for Covid with five beds reserved for doctors who have tested positive and to permit only one relative for each patient to accompany them.
Additionally, all planned surgeries at GMC stand cancelled till May 15 and the same shall be resumed after a review. Only chemotherapy and dialysis units will continue as scheduled.
Rane also interacted with all health officers and has asked them to ensure that OPDs function regularly with all staff equipped with protective gear and to ensure sufficient stock of home isolation kits and proper distribution of these.
Auxiliary Nurse Midwives ANMs have been directed to resume phone calls to Covid patients under home isolation to monitor their oxygen saturation level and to train them to use the kit. Mobile testing vehicles are likely to be operationalised for rapid detection of cases.
