HYDERABAD: He worked for 12 months relentlessly without taking even a day’s leave. Ultimately, when he did take a leave of absence in April last year for a family gathering, he contracted Covid-19 and never returned. These were the words of colleagues of D Balaraju, who died aged 40.
Balaraju worked as an office subordinate in Gandhi Hospital through the pandemic until April, 2021 when he died. The hospital paid homage to him and five others who passed away in the two years of the pandemic.
“In hindsight, we often think that we should have never given him leave. Had he been inside Gandhi Hospital, he would have been safer because that was the level of sanitation maintained here. He worked very hard for the Hospital but ultimately died here,” recounted Bhavana Singh, Junior Assistant Planning Section, Gandhi Hospital.
According to the hospital Superintendent, a total of six staffers working in the hospital died of Covid-19. This includes D Balaraju, office subordinate, Prahalad working as Male Nursing Orderly, Swarupa from SSV Services, Surendar from GJR services, G Balaraju who was a security guard and A Swarupa who also worked as a security guard.
“The Covid-19 wave has seen immense contributions from people across the hospital be it senior or juniors. The hospital not only discharged 85,000 patients but also treated 3,762 paediatric Covid cases, 8,178 dialysis cases, 113 emergency Covid surgeries and 788 black fungus surgeries. The hospital also handled 5,385 black fungus OP consults,” said Dr. M Raja Rao.
Building a memorial
Lauding the efforts of all involved, Director of Medical Education Dr. K Ramesh Reddy said, “As an alumnus of this college and as an administrator, I can say that the hospital has done an excellent job in serving the State. As suggested, we will surely plan and execute the idea of setting up a memorial in this campus as a homage to those healthcare workers who died and also the family members of HCWs who died.”