Maharashtra govt wants 80% of private hospital beds for Covid care

PUNE: State health minister Rajesh Tope on Monday said private hospitals in the city should dedicate 80% of their beds to Covid-19 care.
He said nearly 1,790 non-oxygenated beds with the private hospitals “served no purpose” in terms of Covid-19 treatment and told the health hubs to immediately convert them into facilities supported by the gas.
Tope, who was in the city, had a three-hour meeting with representatives of the hospitals after the dashboard data revealed that some health hubs with 300 beds each were dedicating 10-15 ICU beds for Covid-19 cases.It was also revealed that the number of oxygen beds was dismal. “We told the hospitals to ensure an 80:20 ratio of their beds within a week for Covid-19 mitigation. They have to ensure oxygen lines,” he told TOI.
Indian Medical Association state president Avinash Bhondwe said besides the oxygen beds, there has to be a check on if the hospitals were abiding by the Centre’s protocols related to separation of beds (infective and non-infective), ventilators, and central oxygen supply.