The extremely low presence of coronavirus patients puts some of the country's Covid-dedicated hospitals in dilemma over the continuation of health care services, officials and physicians said.
Sources in the Directorate General of Health Services said the government is now considering bringing down the number of dedicated hospitals as 72 per cent of beds in these facilities are lying empty.
The situation takes a turn for the worse for the dedicated private healthcare hospitals which are struggling for balancing their balance sheet due to poor turnout of patients, sources in few hospitals said.
According to the state-run DGHS, there are a total 15,255 general beds in 30 dedicated hospitals but only 4,289 or 28.17 per cent of them are occupied by the coronavirus patients as of August 21, 2020.
In terms of ICUs (intensive care units), 203 or 28 per cent of 545 ICUs remained unused for not getting any patients.
Of the patients, dedicated corona unit at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) is getting the highest number (639) of patients, followed by Kurmitola General Hospital (287), Razarbagh Police Hospital (204),and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (203).
While Infectious Disease Hospital, Chattogram Railway Hospital and Field Hospital in Chattogram did not receive any patient and 100-bed Holy Crescent Hospital, 105-bed Dhaka Mohanagar Hospital, 121-bed Lalkuthi Hospital and 2313-bed Bashundhara Covid Hospital are now treating only 06, 13, 13 and 20 patients respectively.
The sharp fall in the number of vacant spaces in the facilities came at the time when the country is hosting the highest number of active cases in Asia after India.
Dr Prokash Chandra Roy, director at Dhaka Mohanagar Hospital, said they have been receiving a small number of coronavirus patients since it was converted into a covid hospital.
"Currently, we've only 13 patients and the rest of the beds are lying empty. I heard it was in the list of suspending covid treatment. But we're yet to receive any instruction to this effect," he said.
Director of Lalkuthi Hospital Dr Shamsul Karim said a large number of people normally receive medical services for women and children daily but now things changed completely soon after the conversion.
"Now, there are 13 covid patients receiving treatment here. This is very unusual. Because of covid treatment, we cannot deliver non-covid treatment to a large number of patients," he said.
When asked about any plan to shut the viral treatment, he said they can do it once the government instructs them to do so.
"We heard from different sources that the government might shut covid treatment here," he added.
The situation was almost the same in some 10 dedicated hospitals in Dhaka and Chattogram.
Seeking anonymity, a top official at Anwar Khan Modern Medical College and Hospital said they came up with the government call to provide medicare services to coronavirus patients on humanitarian grounds.
But the continuation of service for a longer period of time will not be viable for the private sector as it needs huge investment through significantly raising salaries of the physicians, procuring required equipment and accommodation of the professionals, he said.
When contacted, DGHS director (hospital) Dr Farid Hossain Miah said they recently sent a letter to the ministry concerned, seeking its permission to delist the hospitals receiving poor patients.
"We hope that we will get the ministry's positive feedback very soon," he added.
According to DGHS sources, the hospitals that will possibly be delisted are Infectious Disease Hospital at Mohakhali, Dhaka Mohanagar Hospital, Lalkuthi Hospital, Chattogram Railway Hospital, Field Hospital in Chattogram, Holy Crescent in Chattogram, BITIT in Fouzdarhat.
Healthcare professionals identified a host of factors behind low presence of patients in the government-selected medicare centers across the country.
They said the majority of patients were recovered from home while poor facilities and recent irregularities in the health sector might be discouraging the people to get health-related services.
Dr. Rashid-e-Mahbub, former president of Bangladesh Medical Association (BMA), said most of the infected persons getting cured from home through telemedicine service.
