Private and public hospitals turn away COVID-19 patients

gurugram: Large number of COVID-19 cases have swelled after the imposition of the lockdown in Gurugram and one of the major grievances being shared by patients is how they are being denied admission in various private hospitals in the city.

This, even after the district administration served notices to the management of the private hospitals to not turn away the COVID-19 patients. The district administration finally served notices to the management of Park, Paras and Pratiksha hospitals regarding the same.

Inefficiency of the public healthcare system in Gurugram led to the death of a 2-day-old girl.

Another woman who was infected with Coronavirus who was expecting a child was denied admission by the private hospitals. Her family then turned to government hospitals that referred to the public healthcare facility in Faridabad where she delivered her child who was also found positive with COVID-19 and

later died.

"The major private hospitals in Gurugram today want to make money wherever they can even in the time of the crisis. It's not like the hospitals don't want patients to get admitted but are overcharging," said Gaurav Yadav, a city resident.

Responding to the criticism, a senior doctor in Gurugram superspecialty hospital said: "It is not that we are refusing treatment. We are simply requesting to provide us with facilities that a dedicated COVID-19 hospital should have. A large numbers of health workers even in the private hospitals are getting infected."

In the last two weeks, 16 COVID-19 patients who were in serious condition were being referred to other hospitals. Some of the patients died later. In the last two months, 350 surgeries have been put on hold as the doctors are busy treating the COVID-19 patients.