PANAJI: Several doctors, nurses, multi-task workers and housekeeping staff of Goa Medical College (GMC) were felicitated on Saturday by health minister Vishwajit Rane for their relentless service during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The felicitation is to recognise what each of you has done,” he said.
“There are a lot of challenges before us.
I know all of you are working day and night.” At the peak of the pandemic, daily admissions in Goa ranged between 200 and 230.
Of these, about 60 to 80 patients, and sometimes even more, were admitted to GMC.
The most challenging period was the past two months when the hospital ran out of beds several times and patients could be found all over the hospital.
The situation changed once the super-speciality block was thrown open for Covid-19 patients.
“I remember the day when we had almost 140 patients without beds.
Even the examination hall was turned into a ward and everyone chipped in offering their services,” GMC dean Dr S M Bandekar said at the felicitation function.
Bandekar said that the hospital was able to provide beds to patients on wheelchairs, stretchers and trolleys within a short span and make all necessary arrangements simply because the staff members co-operated.
“These are challenging times.
Even while the second wave is not yet over, there are talks about the third wave.
And there’s the delta plus strain that’s been detected in some parts of the country,” Rane said.
Rane said GMC kept on admitting patients, even after all its beds were occupied, since it could not deny admission as it is a state institute.