Bhubaneswar: In the wake of rising COVID-19 cases from slums areas, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) came out with an order for private hospitals operating from their jurisdiction.
Among the conditions set are accommodating the hospital employees residing in their premises for 14 days at a stretch and their testing for the viral disease.
A number of them said that stricter norms directed by the BMC are almost impossible to comply with for small and medium-sized hospitals. They also expressed concern over the loss of revenue and logistic issues after the order came into light.
“A number of norms are very tough for hospitals to comply with. They want all health workers from slums to reside in hospital campuses. BMC has also directed rotation of med teams in 14 days and mandated their COVID-19 tests after the period,” said Dr Biswajit Mishra, Director, Jagannath Hospital in the city.
“This system will entail recruitment of more staff which will be difficult to art this situation. The whole idea also emanates from the assumption that any COVID-19 case detected in hospitals is due to the fault of the medics,” he added.
Another director from a medium-sized hospital from the city said, “We cannot deny treatment to the patients coming to us. It is not the health worker who spreads the disease but a patient. We try our best to prevent it.” “Private hospitals have suffered massive losses due to COVID 19 outbreak. Most of them are earning 10 per cent of their usual business and they have to maintain their staff too. Under such conditions, the restrictions imposed by the BMC and public shaming have created an atmosphere of fear among the patients,” said Dr Ajay Mishra, President of All Odisha Private Medical Establishment Forum (AOPMEF).
“The norms have made it tough for hospitals to manage daily affairs. We have submitted a memorandum to the government regarding our woes,” he added.
Dr Brundaban Nayak, another director from a private hospital said, “When our employees return from slums and contract the disease how would anybody know whether the person got the infection from a patient in a hospital or from someone he had interacted in the slum area,”
BMC Commissioner Prem Choudhury, however, said that keeping in mind the present conditions it is required to mandatory follow COVID-19 rules which has been framed to manage the disease more effectively.
