PUNE: Big private hospitals in the region haven’t yet sent an aggregated demand of how much vaccines they might need to civic or district authorities, the Association of Hospitals has said.
Smaller hospitals in the district have said they’ll need over 33 lakh doses of Covaxin and Covishield for their vaccine drives.
But there has been no such demand placed by the larger units so far, the association said.
Dr Manjusha Kulkarni, secretary of the Association of Hospitals, Pune, said, “Even though guidelines state that private hospitals have to route vaccine procurement through the state government, we are waiting to see how the process will work after June 21.
Big hospitals are yet to send an aggregated demand of doses to the municipal body as we need more clarity on whether private hospitals can process procurement directly (from manufacturers) instead of waiting for the state government to route the orders.” Dr Sanjay Deshmukh, assistant director (medical), Pune circle, said as per the new rules, private hospitals should send an aggregated demand of doses to municipal or district authorities first, who will then forward it to the state government.
“The state government will forward it to the Centre.
Private hospitals will have to make the payment (for the doses) through the National Health Authority’s electronic platform,” he said.
He added that private hospitals cannot place orders directly with manufacturers after June 21, and will have to route it through the state.
Dr Sanjay Patil, chairman of the Hospital Board of India (IMA, Pune), said the 400-plus hospitals that sent over their vaccine demand to state authorities were indeed the small and medium-sized units in the district.
“Many of them are approved vaccine hubs.
They are crucial,” he said.
But bigger private units said they’re still unclear on how the new procurement process is set to work after June 21.
Some reported shrinking reserves.
Bomi Bhote, chief executive officer (CEO) of Ruby Hall Clinic, said, “We have stopped procurement after June 21 as we need to see how things go with the new guidelines.
At Rs 150 cap on service charge, it may be difficult to carry out the drive.” Dr HK Sale, executive director of Noble Hospital, said clear procurement guidelines are needed.
“We paid SII for 50,000 doses in early June.
We are yet to get a chunk of the order.
We plan to continue on-site (in-hospital) drives, but have doses left for just a few days more,” he said.