BENGALURU: Just seven days after delivering a baby boy, a 26-year-old woman and resident of Rajarajeshwari Nagar passed away after being denied treatment by several hospitals. The woman’s husband said that on July 22, they got her tested for Covid-19 at ESI Hospital in RR Nagar, and the test came back negative on July 24.
The same day, she delivered a baby boy and was discharged on July 30. Later in the evening, she started to experience breathlessness, and was taken back to the same hospital. The hospital stated that while they could control her oxygen levels, she has to be admitted elsewhere.
“The same hospital where my child was delivered didn’t want to admit my wife. We had to start looking for other hospitals. We went to St John’s, Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases and Sri Venkateswara Hospital, but they all claimed not to have ventilators available, and that they couldn’t admit her,” said the husband.
Jayanagar MLA Sowmya Reddy was informed about the patient, and made attempts to find her a bed. “I made calls to many hospitals, but no beds were available. We finally got one at Narayana Hrudayalaya at 5am, but by then I learnt that she had passed away. If she was treated on time, she might have been alive now,” said Reddy.
The MLA added that she comes across such instances every week, and that the government needs to address this issue by having a live dashboard on bed availability. The husband told TNIE that he’s still trying to figure out how to care for his baby alone. “The healthcare system in Bengaluru has collapsed,” he said.