The two major hospitals in Shimla, Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) and Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital, are packed to capacity and denying admission to Covid patients.Patients in need of critical care are being referred to IGMC from Solan, Bilaspur and Sirmaur districts.
According to data on the Covid capacity portal, the state has a total capacity of 3,473 beds in its dedicated Covid hospitals (DCHs), dedicated Covid health centres (DCHCs) and dedicated Covid care centres (DCCCs).
On May 17, a total of 2,399 beds were occupied and only 1,074 available across the state. There are 2,409 oxygen beds of which 1,928 are occupied and 481 vacant. The number of ICU beds is 278 of which 241 occupied and only 37 are vacant.Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital is a 90-bed facility, but the capacity was augmented to cater to 137 patients.
Chief minister Jai Ram Thakur had recently inspected the army-run Walker Hospital in Shimla but later it was found that it’s not feasible to create facilities for Covid-19 patients.The private hospital at Panthaghati has refused to provide Covid facilities.
Shimla chief medical officer Surekha Chopra has suggested taking over the sanatorium that has 40 beds.The government has also taken over the regional Ayurveda hospital in Shimla that is packed to capacity now.The state government has announced that if required it will create more space for patients at the parking space in Tutti Kandi.
Kangra district has 723 beds of which 614 occupied and 109 are available. All 70 ICU beds in the district are occupied. There are 557 beds with oxygen support of which only 47 are available. Kangra deputy commissioner Rakesh Kumar Prajapati conveyed that the authorities are managing in the current capacity as new patients are being admitted against the vacancy occurring on a daily basis after recovered patients are discharged and a 500-bed facility is coming up at Paraur near Palampur that will help ease the situation.
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