PANJIM: The Association of Private Nursing Homes (APNH), Goa has objected to what they described to be unwarranted vilification of private hospitals involved in COVID care and said the errors being highlighted are not ‘malafide’.
APNH President Dr Milind Colwalkar said he was deeply disappointed by unnecessary and uncalled for criticism of private hospitals regarding issuance of show cause notices issued to 9 private hospitals for delayed reporting of COVID deaths.
“We have asked individual hospitals to respond appropriately to the show cause notices but as APNH, we feel that this is a diversionary tactic to paint all private hospitals in a bad light and we strongly object to this uncalled for criticism,” said Dr Milind.
“Despite being short on staff, equipment and infrastructure, COVID treatment was virtually thrust on the private hospitals which were not at all geared towards COVID care. These hospitals had to suddenly invest in costly equipment, recruit more staff, make changes to the infrastructure at a huge cost which as the cases come down may now prove to be a liability,” he added.
“Despite these constraints, the hospitals did not shy away from their responsibility, did their very best, and worked tirelessly in extremely difficult and dangerous circumstances, putting themselves and their family members at a huge risk. Their efforts have certainly contributed to bringing down the morbidity and mortality rates from this deadly second wave,” he added.
He also pointed out that it is possible to perform the final rites without a death certificate mentioning the cause of death or intimating the concerned municipality or the panchayat.
“The statistics are also uploaded regularly by concerned hospitals. If there is any deliberate attempt to hide, it will come out after the government enquiry but as far as we know, the error is only administrative ,” he said.
“We do not expect any appreciation or applause but such kind of vilification is highly condemnable and APNH strongly protests this,” the doctor concluded.
