SHILLONG, April 21: NEIGRIHMS authorities’ forewarning about its inability to cope with COVID cases like last year has not impressed the state government. As cases of infection are soaring by the day, officials have pinned their hope on this premier central health-care institute to help the state cope with the alarming situation.
Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong on Wednesday said NEIGRIHMS should not give up providing service like in the past simply because of limitations to fight the pandemic. “NEIGRIHMS should not lose hope because the central and state governments are with them. We have limitations without doubt but you just cannot surrender,” he said.
Tynsong argued that NEIGRIHMS is not the only medical institution in the country to be overworked and exhausted in the fight against COVID-19. Cities like Delhi are worse off, he said.
NEIGRIHMS Director Dr P. Bhattacharya had earlier said the institute has been facing a funds crunch as well as a manpower shortage. These could affect the treatment of patients, especially those infected with the novel coronavirus, he said.
Dr Bhattacharya also said health is a state subject and with many doctors having been trained by the institute in handling critical COVID cases, the state government should not burden NEIGRIHMS during any COVID situation since it is required to handle critical non-COVID cases.
In his first official response, DHS (MI), Dr Aman War said, “One expects a premier institute such as NEIGRIHMS to handle critical cases.”
“Can they say all the tough cases are going to them? It is considered a premier institute, so serious cases will automatically be referred. We have to accommodate and adapt accordingly,” he said.
The NEIGRIHMS authority had alluded to the fact that the institute has been meeting all its COVID-19 responsibilities from its available budget, which has contributed to the current resource crunch.
Dr Cornerstone Wann, the institute’s public relations officer said the centrally-funded NEIGRIHMS did not receive any special fund from its parent organisation in 2020-21 for combating COVID-19.
He maintained that the institute has never sought funds from the state government but the Principal Secretary of Health had, during a recent meeting, asked if NEIGRIHMS needed extra ventilators to meet the anticipated surge.
“NEIGRIHMS will continue to work in close coordination with the government of Meghalaya and the other seven states of the Northeast to the best of its abilities both for COVID and non-COVID cases,” he added.
