Notices to hospitals over Covid beds for govt-quota patients

Civic body asks them to provide an explanation in 24 hours

The BBMP has sent show-cause notices to seven hospitals found breaching the 50% bed reservation rule for government-sponsored Covid-19 patients.

The BBMP had directed the hospitals to reserve 50% of beds in all categories like general wards, HDU, ICU, and ICU with ventilators.

Hospitals that received the show-cause notices on Saturday include Artyem, Rangadore Memorial, Sanjeevini, Dr GVG Healthcare Pvt Ltd, Srinivas, Medstar, and Nandana Healthcare Services India Ltd. The notices were issued under the Karnataka Private Medical Establishment (KPME) Act for suspension of licences.

For latest updates on coronavirus outbreak, click here

“These hospitals have been directed to show cause within the next 24 hours as to why the KPME registration licences should not be cancelled,” BBMP Commissioner N Manjunatha Prasad said in a press statement.

If the hospitals failed to provide an explanation within 24 hours and comply with the 50% bed reservation for BBMP-sponsored Covid patients, the civic body will first close down OPDs.

After that, patients will be transferred to other hospitals and they will be closed down, he added.

Hospitals say otherwise

Dr Gunasekar Vuppalapati, Chief Plastic Surgeon and CMD, GVG Invivo Hospitals, said in a statement that his hospital has been licensed for 30 beds but was functioning as a 20-bedded surgical facility before the pandemic.

“We added 10 more beds in the medical ICU just to accommodate BBMP patients and gave 20 beds. So, of 30 beds, we have allocated 20 beds to the BBMP,” he said.

The hospital had sent a mail to Suvarna Arogya Suraksha Trust (SAST) to reduce the BBMP beds since the Covid-19 admissions to the hospital started to dip. “We wanted to resume non-Covid surgical services from November 1,” Dr Vuppalapati said in the statement.

“SAST has reduced our bed count on the (bed) portal. We will get in touch with BBMP officials, communicate with the Department of Health and Family Welfare accordingly and get back to work immediately,” said the hospital head.

Director of Artyem Hospital Rakshith Nagaraj said the hospital did not receive the notice shared with the media. “We have complied with the 50% reservation norm,” he insisted.

“Of 30 beds registered in KPME, we have allotted 15 beds for BBMP. So far, 85 Covid patients have been treated at our hospital.”

Numbers mismatch

Ashok Kulal, the administrator of Medstar, said the hospital only has 35 beds, although the KPME registration shows it to be having 100 beds. “We can’t possibly give 50 beds we don’t have,” he said.

Rangadore Memorial Hospital did not respond to DH’s questions on the notice.