Civic body issues notices to 36 private hospitals

Bengaluru: The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) on Wednesday issued show-cause notices to 36 hospitals for not complying with directions of the state government in providing 50% of beds for the government referred Covid-19 patients.

The civic agency directed all the 36 hospitals to comply with the rules within 48 hours failing which they will face immediate suspension of registration under Section 15 of the KPME Act. Notices were issued to 21 hospitals with over 100 beds, 10 hospitals with 50-100 beds and five hospitals with 20-50 beds. The civic body asked the hospitals to update the Suvarna Aarogya Suraksha Trust (SAST) portal with details of government referred patients and private patients so that the actual Covid patient bed occupancy is reflected. According to BBMP officials, the government-referred patients were being turned away by the private hospitals on the ground that beds were not available.

"This reveals that either beds which are supposed to be reserved for the government are being allocated to private patients," the BBMP stated in its showcause notice issued to BGS Global Hospital. The notices were issued to Sagar Hospital, Jayanagar, Santosh Hospital, Apollo Hospitals Bannerghatta (a unit of Imperial Hospital), Apollo Hospitals enterprises limited Sheshadripur, Shifaa hospital, Bangalore Baptist hospital, Chris super speciality hospital.