Chandigarh: Only words, no action in ramping up infra at GMSH

CHANDIGARH: If meetings and statements could help in fighting coronavirus, the city stood a mighty good chance of winning the battle! That is probably all it did since the pandemic upended life rather than focusing on ramping up infrastructure in one of its major medical centres— Government Multi-Specialty Hospital (GMSH), Sector 16.
Thirteen months on, facilities like Covid testing and the number of ICU beds remain the same.Just how seriously the UT took the virus that has now gone out of control, here is a comparison.
Before the start of the pandemic, both General Hospital, Sector 6, Panchkula, and GMSH-16, were in the same position — no testing facilities. Panchkula used to send its samples to Karnal, while GMSH relied on PGI. Now: Panchkula has managed to set up its own Covid testing laboratory, conducting around 2,000 tests daily, while GMSH is still dependent on PGI. The administration has not taken any steps to start a laboratory to get quick results. Sources said private laboratories are taking majority of samples and GMSH hardly a few.
Here is another shocker. Not a single ICU bed has increased in GMSH since six were set up following the directions of Punjab and Haryana high court around two years back in 2019.
The Panchkula hospital has 36 ICU beds, out of which 18 are dedicated for Covid-19 patients. It is 300-bed hospital with 230 beds only for Covid patients. On the other hand, GMSH has 500 beds, but has kept around just 200 for Covid patients. If that is not enough, the administration has refused to share information about oxygen beds and other related information with the media.