With demand rising for COVID-19 treatment, private hospitals in Madurai are gearing up to handle the surge.
“A total of 700 beds from private hospitals are being made available for COVID-19 treatment in Madurai,” said Collector T. G. Vinay at a press meet here on Saturday.
According to the State government’s Health and Family Welfare Ministry’s website, there are 11 private hospitals with 400 beds, of which 179 beds are occupied. There are 79 ICU beds, of which 29 are in use. In the private hospitals, only 42 ventilators are available, of which 10 are in use. The hospitals are planning to increase the bed capacity.
J. Adel, General Manager-Operations, Meenakshi Mission Hospital and Research Centre, said they had 30 beds and all of them were occupied. They were planning to create a dedicated facility to treat asymptomatic cases, and increase the bed capacity to 80 in a week. “We have several immuno-compromised patients at the hospital who are also getting treated. We must ensure that they do not get affected. Since our hospital blocks are interconnected, we have marked high-risk zones and restricted entry,” he said.
V. Karthik of Vadamalayan Hospital said they had 40 beds and all were occupied. He said they had allotted an entire block for COVID-19 treatment to segregate it from other wings. “We have beds in Intensive Care Unit and all have ventilators but we have allocated four ventilators alone for COVID-19,” he said.
Velammal Hospital has the highest number of beds - 200- of which 60 are in use for COVID-19 treatment. S. Vijay Anand, Head, Critical Care Unit, said their staff worked on a strict roster system that gave enough time to isolate themselves. “In the last one week, there is a sudden surge in cases. We also take swab tests of close contacts of COVID-19 positive patients. In case they test positive, they can get admitted here,” he said.
District COVID-19 Monitoring Officer B. Chandra Mohan had earlier said that hospitals providing COVID-19 treatment would be eligible to provide treatment under the Chief Minister's Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme.
