Govt may start taking over private hospitals to treat Covid patients

nNEWDELHI: Delhi Lieutenant Governor (L-G) Anil Baijal has directed the state health department , as part of a contingency plan, to identify private hospitals which can be taken over by the government ‘if needed’, in light of the increasing number of Covid-19 cases in the Capital, senior officials said on Sunday.

The direction was issued during a review meeting on Saturday and an identification process is underway, an official in Delhi chief minister’s office confirmed.

A senior officer in L-G’S office said, “It is a contingency plan. In government hospitals, treatment for patients suffering from diseases other than Covid-19 cannot be stopped. In view of this, private hospitals can be engaged for the same.”

Till Sunday evening, Delhi had recorded 503 Covid-19 cases and seven deaths, the government said. Delhi currently has at least 24 private hospitals which cumulatively offer more than 300 isolation beds for treating Covid-19 patients.

Max hospitals in Saket and Patparganj opened up a total of 40 isolation beds this week, the healthcare group had earlier said in a statement.

On Sunday, a spokesperson of Max Healthcare group told HT: “We are in a position to quickly scale-up the number of beds across our facilities.”

A spokesperson of BLK hospital in Rajendra Place said: “We have already streamlined numerous processes. We can scale up our efforts if needed.”

Indraprastha Apollo hospital in South East Delhi’s Sarita Vihar has created a 12-bed isolation facility which is likely to be increased to 30 beds in the coming week, an official said.