AP: Temporary Treatment At Govt Hospitals, 50pc Beds At Pvt Hospitals Under ArogyaSri

VIJAYAWADA: Andhra Pradesh Health, Medical, and Family Welfare Principal Secretary Anil Kumar Singhal said that the Government would soon issue orders to mandate private hospitals to allocate vacant beds to the Government for treatment of COVID patients.

50% of beds should be allotted for  Arogyasri beneficiaries 

Speaking to the media at the APIIC building in Mangalagiri on Thursday, he said that the ArogyaSri empanelled hospitals are currently providing COVID treatment as per the directives of the state government, and they must provide 50 per cent beds to COVID patients in all the hospitals that are temporarily licensed under Arogyasri for 3 months.

He said that 349 hospitals under the Arogyasri Network currently have 25,058 beds. There are 47 hospitals under the temporary empanelment with 1,949 beds. ''We will pay the cost to the hospitals as per the decision of the government. The beds are completely categorized and these details are available at 104 Call Centre and District Collectors. This makes the allocation of beds easier. Collectors are urged to collect all the details as soon as possible. If the beds given to the Arogyasri victims are vacated, they should be given to other patients without denial. Currently, COVID patients are being treated in 108 government hospitals with  16,962 beds. So far, 16,871 people have been admitted to the network hospitals and 7,647 have been treated under Arogyasri, Singhal said.

The Principal Secretary said that the Government was setting up PSA oxygen plants in all government hospitals across the state. Oxygen PSAs will be developed to prevent shortage of oxygen in the coming future. The process is expected to be completed in 3 months and tenders have already been called for, he said. On the other hand, talking about the Coronavirus Third wave, Anil Kumar said that we don’t know when it will come and which is why we are setting up oxygen‌ plants in government hospitals to ensure there are no problems in the future of any such eventuality.

 He said that on Thursday alone, the 104 call centre received more than 17,649 phone calls. So far 3,365 doctors have been registered, of whom 608 are specialists.

Temporary COVID Care hangars In Govt Hospitals

'' We are setting up temporary COVID Care Centres with 200 to 300 beds using German hangars in the vacant spaces at the Government hospital premises. There will also have oxygen beds here. This will serve as a COVID care centre and as well as a hospital, '' he said. We urge the Department of Roads and Buildings to set these up as soon as possible. The Government is arranging for such facilities in Guntur, Krishna Nellore and other districts and the state government on Thursday allocated Rs 100 crore for this purpose, he said. 

He said that the Government was procuring 25 cryogenic oxygen tankers for the State as part of the treatment facilities of COVID-19 patients in the State.

The PS said that the state was also purchasing oxygen concentrators for use at the COVID Care Centres and that the capacity of each tanker will be 20 tonnes, and the total oxygen supply or storage capacity is 500 tonnes. He said that Oxygen generation plants of 76-tonne capacity would be developed to increase the production of oxygen. Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy also sought permission for procurement of Medical Oxygen to be allocated to the State, he stated.

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