Maharashtra Hospital Stripped of its COVID-19 Facility Status Due to Several Lapses

A private hospital in Bhiwandi township of Maharashtra's Thane district has been stripped of

its status as a COVID-19 treatment facility after severallapses were found in its functioning, a civic official said on Monday. It was observed that the COVID-19 death rate at the hospital was high. The facility, located in Kamatghar area,also did not have specialist doctors to treat the patients and lacked physicians, Bhiwandi Nizampur Municipal Corporation'smedical officer of health Dr Nitin Mokashi said.

It did not follow treatment protocols of the IndianCouncil of Medical Research (ICMR), hence it was decided to strip the hospital of its status as a COVID-19 treatmentfacility, he said.

Patients currently undergoing treatment at thefacility will be immediately shifted to the Indira Gandhi

Memorial Hospital in Bhiwandi for further treatment, he said. Officials who had classified the hospital as a COVID-19 facility without due diligence will also face action,he added.

On Saturday, the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC)suspended the licence of a city-based private hospital and cancelled its classification as a COVID-19 facility after itallegedly overcharged patients. The decision was welcomed by local leaders and socialactivists.

They were of the view that the TMC should take overthe facility and some other big hospitals in the city and use them for the treatment of COVID-19 patients. Till Sunday, Thane district reported 78,567 COVID-19 cases and 2,153 deaths due to the disease.