Himachal Govt ropes in ayurveda hospital for Covid care, pvt hospitals next

Subhash Rajta

Tribune News Service

Shimla, April 25

With Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital overshooting its normal 90-bed capacity and the IGMC hovering around its capacity mark, the Health Department today acquired the ayurveda hospital for Covid patients, adding 30 more beds to the tally in Shimla. The government is planning to acquire two private hospitals, too, in the coming days.

“We have taken over the ayurveda hospital and will try and make it functional at the earliest,” said an official. “Initially, we will provide oxygen with cylinders but we will try and have oxygen concentrators too,” he said.

At this facility, patients who have become stable or have mild symptoms will be shifted from the IGMC and the DDU. “The idea is to decongest the IGMC and the DDU and make space for patients with severe problems,” the official said.

Meanwhile, the DDU breached its normal strength of 90 beds last evening. “We have laid out 25 more beds, taking the total strength to 115. These beds, though, do not have piped oxygen, these will be given oxygen through cylinders,” said a DDU doctor.

On Sunday evening, the count at the DDU was 105.

At the IGMC, the occupancy rate has fallen from 143 to 133, with the total number of beds being 147 at the moment. The IGMC administration claims it could raise the capacity by another 100 beds within 24 hours if the need arises. Clearly, the time has come for the IGMC administration to lay out additional beds.

Incidentally, people are claiming that the IGMC is refusing admissions now. “I had checked with the hospital for a bed on Friday evening, but I was told there was no bed available,” said Sanjay Chauhan, the city’s former Mayor.