80% Beds In Private Hospitals Currently Occupied In Ahmedabad

According to official data, as on Monday, 1,516 beds out of the total 1,820 private-quota beds are currently occupied, leaving only 304 beds vacant.

PTI

Updated on: 28 September 2020 8:03 pm

Due to a sudden spike in Covid-19 positive cases in Ahmedabad over the last one week, more than 80 percent of beds in designated private hospitals are currently occupied, according to data shared by the Ahmedabad Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association (AHNA).
With 83.29 percent occupancy, it's getting difficult to get beds for new patients in these hospitals, AHNA President Dr. Bharat Gadhvi told PTI on Monday. As on Monday, 1,516 beds out of the total 1,820 private-quota beds were occupied, while only 304 beds are currently vacant, official data indicated.

The occupancy of ICU beds without a ventilator is at nearly 81 percent and only 55 such beds are available. Similarly, 89.11 percent of the total 147 ICU beds with a ventilator are currently occupied, leaving only 16 such beds for new patients. On the other hand, an "ample number" of beds are available under quotas reserved for Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) and state-run hospitals, a civic official said.

As against the average 150 cases that have been registered every day in the city till the third week of September, around 170 cases have been reported every day during the last week. On September 27, 178 new cases were reported by the state health department.

"It is true that occupancy has increased. But, we still have enough beds, both under AMC quota in private hospitals and with government hospitals, such as Sola civil, main civil and SVP Hospital," Deputy Municipal Commissioner, OP Machra said. "If private quota gets exhausted, people can always get admitted under AMC quota,"Machra added. He also said that the AMC is considering to rope in more private hospitals to cope with future demand.

To ease the burden on government-run hospitals, the Ahmedabad civic body so far has notified 64 private hospitals as designated Covid-19 centres. As per the agreement, each hospital can utilize 50 percent of beds for private quota patients, while the remaining quantum of beds should be reserved for patients sent by the civic body.

In August, the civic body had de-notified nine designated Covid-19 hospitals in view of the slowing graph of new COVID-19 cases. However, since then positive cases have surged in the city.