Thane: Non-serious patients being shifted from hospital to another facility after 18 deaths in 24 hours

In the wake of the death of 18 patients in 24 hours at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital at Kalwa in Thane authorities have started shifting other patients who are not in a serious condition and new admissions to the Civil Hospital located nearby if they are willing to be relocated officials told news agency PTI on MondayThanes Additional Municipal Commissioner incharge of health services Sandeep Malvi told PTI that in the 24hour period ending on Monday morning three patients died at the civicrun Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj CSM Hospital while one patient was brought deadThe number of deaths at the Kalwabased hospital has come down in the last 24 hours and the details are being compiled and analysed he saidEarlier the CSM Hospital reported 18 deaths in the 24hour period between Saturday and Sunday following which Chief Minister Eknath Shinde ordered setting up of an independent committee to carry out a probe into the clinical aspect of the deathsElaborate police security was also deployed at the medical facilityThe CSM Hospital was overloaded and treating nearly 600 patients per day against its capacity of 500 as per officials reported PTIThe Civil Hospital located nearby in the city is being renovated so the load falls on the Kalwa facility former Thane mayor Naresh Mhakse who is also spokesperson of the Eknath Shindeled Shiv Sena said on SundayDue to the renovation work at the Civil Hospita many patients have no option but to rush to the Kalwabased hospital as per doctorsDr Aniruddha Malgaonkar medical superintendent of the CSM Hospital on Monday told PTI that the option of shifting has been left to the patientsWe will shift only those patients who are recovering and from among the new admissions he saidThe CSM Hospital admits around 150 new patients per day which has heavily increased its load he claimedThe Civil Hospital located at a short distance from the CSM Hospital has a capacity of 350 beds and its occupancy is about 50 per cent as per officialsAsked about three deaths reported in the last 24 hours compared to 18 in the previous one day a civic official said that on Saturday and a couple of days before it some extremely serious patients were admitted to the CSM HospitalThe deaths of patients happened in a short span and hence attracted public attention he saidMost of those among the 18 deceased patients were over 50 years of age and many were referred to the CSM Hospital from private medical facilities the official saidThere is absolutely no medical negligence he said adding the hospital staff is extremely cooperativeA doctor at the CSM Hospital said how to do you expect us to ignore the patients when we took care of patients during the COVID19 pandemicHe said as per the directions of civic commissioner Abhijit Bangar they do not refer a patient to any other hospital when the treatment is available at their facilityNotably patients from the entire Thane district and surrounding areas come to the CSM Hospital for treatmentTalking to PTI Thane MLA Sanjay Kelkar claimed he had informed district guardian minister Shambhuraj Desai about the huge footfall at the CSM hospitalMaharashtra minster Deepak Kesarkar on Sunday directed that a board be immediately displayed at the Civil Hospital which is under renovation to inform people that the facility is not closed This will reduce the load on the Kalwa hospital he saidGuardian minister Desai said he was in touch with the Thane collector and the civic commissioner over the matterBJP MLC Niranjan Davkhare who visited the hospital on Sunday demanded that the administration increase the number of doctors nurses and staff and also ensure proper availability of medicines at the facilityDavkhare told PTI that it has been decided to shift patients from the Kalwabased hospital to the Civil Hospital in Thane to reduce the loadWith inputs from PTI