Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Secretary Vini Mahajan on Sunday asked private hospitals to use the COVID-19 crisis as an opportunity to earn public goodwill and not for profiteering. She also urged the hospitals to reach out to the families of the patients and try to reduce their stress.
The chief secretary assured private hospitals partnering the state in the fight against COVID-19 of all possible help from the government to address their concerns, including availability of drugs and consumable such as PPE (personal protective equipment) kits, as well as disposal of bio-medical waste generated at their facilities. She gave the assurance during a video conference with all the private hospitals which are working with the state government in treating COVID cases in 22 districts of the state.
Representatives of more than 100 private health facilities assured the state government of their full support in combating the pandemic and offered to add as many beds as may be needed for the care of COVID patients in the state in order to save lives, according to a government release here. While urging private hospitals to intensify their efforts to support people of the state amid rising cases of coronavirus, Vini asked them to use the present crisis as an opportunity to earn public goodwill and not for profiteering.
Some of the ruling party MLAs during a meeting with Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Friday had complained of private hospitals making a killing out of the COVID crisis by overcharging patients despite the cap imposed by the government. Meanwhile, it was informed that more than 180 private hospitals have come forward in the fight against the pandemic, and have already offered over 2,300 beds for Level 2 and over 900 beds for Level 3 treatment of COVID patients.
The state government has given around 100 ventilators to the private hospitals free of charge to support their efforts, the chief secretary said. Representatives from various private hospitals shared their feedback and concerns on various issues ranging from clinical management of the disease to availability of drugs and consumables like PPEs and bio-medical waste being generated in these facilities and their disposal.
The chief secretary assured the private hospitals that the government was fully aware of the issues being faced by them and was committed towards making all possible efforts to ease their problems.
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