Bhailal Amin General Hospital shuts for a week after 18 staff test positive

The decision of the hospital came about five days after the VMC formed a committee to inspect the hospital to ascertain facts of the Covid-19 SOPs in place. The committee, VMC officials said, did not find any lapse in the hospital arrangements.

Health officer Dr Devesh Patel said, “The committee submitted its report and it did not find any lapse on the part of the hospital. We have not asked the hospital to close down but they may have buckled under the pressure of the criticism.”

The hospital, in a release issued on Wednesday, said that the decision to temporarily close down has been taken to ensure that the employees are ‘pool tested’ and the premises are disinfected. “Team BAGH proactively participated in the fight against coronavirus and during this fight some of our warriors were injured and the authorities applaud them for their bravery,” the release said.

An official of Alembic group that owns BAGH said, “We have faced undue criticism and pressure from many political leaders, who have been critical of our corporate entity after some of our corona warriors tested positive. We have decided to close down at the moment and we are not sure if we will reopen to offer Covid-19 care.”

The official said that about 10 patients, including two Covid-19 patients, were shifted to other hospitals when the management decided to close down the hospital on Wednesday. The official said that the hospital has treated 12 Covid-19 patients who have recovered so far.

It all began for BAGH when a physician tested positive, followed by his wife who was a gynaecologist. An intern doctor, nurses and some staff of a catering and housekeeping agency offering services at the hospital also tested positive, leading to mounting criticism of the hospital and representations to the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) to take action against the hospital. The agency, however, also provides services to several other private hospitals in the city including a popular multispeciality hospital as well as an e-commerce website.