GMCH: Dusty Ventilators While Patients Struggle

Families fighting for loved ones at Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32, are facing a desperate situation due to a severe ventilator shortage. The hospital currently has around 60 functional ventilators, but the demand often exceeds this capacity. A significant issue is the presence of 60 additional ventilators, acquired during the Covid-19 pandemic, that are currently unusable and gathering dust.

The primary reasons for these ventilators remaining idle are the hospital administration's inability to renew their annual maintenance contracts, each costing approximately ₹4 lakh, and a critical lack of trained manpower. Operating a single ICU ventilator requires a substantial team, including anaesthetists, nurses, resident doctors, and technical staff across multiple shifts.

Inspections by the Punjab and Chandigarh human rights commission revealed these critical shortcomings, including patients being treated on stretchers and the widespread use of ambu bags due to ventilator scarcity. The commission has taken suo moto cognizance of these issues. GMCH director principal Dr GP Thami stated that new ventilators are expected within 45 days and claimed that most staff positions are filled, denying a staff deficiency and asserting that condemned Covid-era ventilators are not in use.