VIJAYAPURA: After Maharashtra cut off supply of oxygen cylinders to the state, hospitals in Vijayapura, Bagalkot and Belagavi are finding it hard to care for critically-ill Covid-19 patients. Many private hospitals-turned-Covid Care Centres (CCC) are now refusing to admit patients in dire need of oxygen, while some patients are being referred to hospitals in Maharashtra.
Speaking to TNIE, Dr Deepak Chauhan, administrator, Banjara Multi-specialty Hospital, said, “Many hospitals in the region are dependent on oxygen units in Solapur and Kolhapur (in Maharashtra). Now, we are only admitting patients who don’t need oxygen.” This hospital runs a 36-bed CCC.
Other hospitals are in the same predicament. Dr Rihan Bangi, who heads the CCC at Bangi Hospital, said, “There are 47 Covid patients admitted here, including 12 critically-ill ones on oxygen support. I need one cylinder every hour for one patient. Two vehicles carrying oxygen tanks are stuck in Solapur. Now, I have sent one vehicle to Gulbarga and another to Raichur to procure oxygen.”
Hospitals are now dependent on Ballari’s JSW Praxia Oxygen Private Limited (JPOPL) — a major supplier of medical equipment for the North Karnataka region.
Harsha Kanti, a distributor of oxygen to private hospitals in Bagalkot, said, “The demand for oxygen has shot up, but production is the same. At least six tonnes of medical oxygen is required every day in Bagalkot alone, but we are getting only four tonnes from Ballari.”
Admitting that there is an acute shortage of medical oxygen, Vijayapura Deputy Commissioner P Sunil Kumar said, “I tried speaking to the Deputy Commissioner of Kolhapur about allowing oxygen supply. Their decision is shocking - Maharashtra cannot take such calls amid a pandemic.”
Authorities are now approaching suppliers in Kalaburagi, Ballari and Karnataka Industrial Gases Private Limited in Dharwad.
“We are under severe pressure. I have also brought this to the notice of higher-ups, including Health Minister B Sriramulu,” Kumar said.