YCM Hospital has lowest mortality rate in Pune district, claims PCMC

He added, “We have the analysis report (from the central government) with us. It shows that Sassoon Hospital has the highest mortality rate of around 20 per cent while other major private hospitals like Dinanath Mangeshkar and Bharati Hospital in Pune city have a mortality rate of 6-7 per cent”.

According to YCMH dean Dr Rajendra Wable, the hospital has so far treated 11,522 Covid-19 patients. “Of these, 459 patients have died at the hospital. 7,107 patients were discharged and isolated at home. Nearly 3,530 patients were shifted to Covid Care Centres. The mortality rate is around 3.95 per cent,” Dr Wable said, adding that currently, over 400 patients are undergoing treatment at the hospital.

Shrikrishna Joshi, spokesperson for Lokmanya Hospital, one of the biggest private hospitals in Pimpri-Chinchwad, said,”We have had a total of over 1,000 admissions in our two hospitals in Pimpri-Chinchwad. Of these, 55 deaths of Covid patients have taken place, and the mortality rate is at 6.55 per cent.”

Dr Wable said t ill a few days back, the hospital had seen seen 10-15 deaths per day. “However, the figure has reduced to 5-6 deaths every day. We could have a much lower mortality rate but the fact is several patients are shifted to YCMH from a private hospital, when they can’t manage the patients,” he said.

Stating that delayed treatment sought by patients was one of the major causes of fatalities, Dr Wable said, “… We use all possible methods to save the lives of patients. There is no blanket treatment given to patients, it depends on their blood parameters. We have achieved a fair bit of success through plasma therapy and we are using it as per the availability of the plasma with our blood bank.”

YCM Hospital has also faced a shortage of specialists, he said. “We need 24 specialists. Currently, there is a shortage of at least 10 specialists. We have only one pulmonologist. Some doctors have resigned and a few, who are contractual employees, are on the verge of resigning…,” he said.

Hardikar, however, said, “We have adequate number of physicians. I am aware of the shortage of specialists. We will have to create new posts in consultation with the ruling party and then seek approval of the state government. Currently, we are outsourcing doctors to meet our shortage.”

Now that the 816-bed jumbo hospital in Nehrunagar and another 200-bed facility at Auto Cluster have been set up, the pressure on YCMH will reduce significantly, said the PCMC chief. “With the new facilities starting, YCMH will have fewer patients and it will be able to handle them efficiently,” he said.