VISAKHAPATNAM: The death of around 60 children at a government hospital in Gorakhpur of Uttar Pradesh due to the alleged lack of oxygen cylinders is giving authorities of King George Hospital (KGH) in Visakhapatnam the jitters. KGH, arguably the biggest referral hospital in the north Andhra region, owes pending dues to the tune of `23 lakh to the agency which provides it oxygen.
The 1,040-bed hospital, with eight emergency medical care units, caters to the needs of patients of three north coastal AP districts, apart from the people of certain regions in Chhattisgarh and Odisha. It is learnt that the KGH administration has not paid the bills to the agency for the last six months. After the Gorakhpur tragedy, Visakhapatnam collector Pravin Kumar issued instructions to KGH officials to ensure that all emergency care units in the hospital run sans interruption.
But the infrastructure is poor, given the number of patients approaching the hospital daily. In the hospital’s intensive paediatric care ward, there are only 40 beds with oxygen supply cylinder tube connections.
“Most of the time, the ward is overcrowded and the authorities adjust the patients such that two or even three have to make do with one bed. At times, so many infants are in dire need of oxygen that two or more are given supplies from a single oxygen connection,” said an employee requesting anonymity.
Sources say there are emergency care units in the King George Hospital which receive nearly 200 patients in need of oxygen support daily.