At a time when the public healthcare system turned out to be the backbone of the entire world during COVID-19 pandemic, the Government General Hospital in Anantapur is the lone referral teaching hospital with all facilities that is treating 150 COVID-19 patients in the 500-bed facility, forced to dedicate the other beds to patients with other health problems.
The district administration has chosen to take over 32 beds in KIMS Saveera Hospital and 125 beds in RDT Bathalapalli Hospital in the private sector and has been treating COVID-19 patients at the Hindupur Government Hospital (with 40 beds) also. The State government pays ₹30,000 per normal COVID-19 patient under Arogyasri to private hospitals, and ₹1,30,000 for serious cases needing treatment utilising ventilators, District Medical and Health Officer K.V.N.S. Anil Kumar tells The Hindu.
Non-Arogyasri patients are charged depending on the hospital’s standard rates. However, none of the private hospitals is treating COVID patients due to non-availability of medical and para-medical staff to work in the COVID wards.
As of Friday, there were 286 non-COVID patients being treated in the GGH along with 90 COVID patients. Shifting serious non-COVID patients to private hospitals is not possible in the district due to lack of quality infrastructure. "There are 165 gynaecology patients, along with cardiac, dialysis-dependent and blood-transfusion-needing patients, who cannot be sent out to a private hospital, whereas non-symptomatic COVID patients can be treated at private facilities following the COVID protocols," GGH Superintendent M. Ramaswamy Naik says. Out of the 150 beds reserved for COVID cases, 90 are occupied with only 11 of them needing oxygen support and none needing a ventilator, Dr. Ramaswamy adds.
Kurnool district administration has taken over beds in two private teaching hospitals – Vishwabharathi and Shanthiram Medical Colleges in Kurnool and Nandyal – and converted Kurnool GGH into State COVID hospital.
.jpg?w=600)
