Chennai: Eighteen patients died in a hospital here allegedly due to flooding of generator room and resultant snap of ventilator and oxygen support as Tamil Nadu government indicted the hospital management for “abandoning” its job and said the incident will be probed.
Over the past several days when rains ravaged the city, a well-known private hospital on the banks of the Adyar river in Manapakkanam here was hit by flood in parts of its premises and according to the government 18 died in the past two to three days.
As there was no electricity, the hospital was run on generator.
Speaking to reporters, some relatives of those dead alleged that those on life support like ventilator and oxygen could not be continuously given such backup as the generator room was flooded.
“Out of 75 ICU patients in that hospital, 57 ventilator patients were moved out. The remaining patients died over the past two three days. Let us not jump the gun to say that the patients died due to power failure,” Tamil Nadu Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan told reporters.
Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary K Gnanadesikan told a press conference here that hospital management “abandoned” their job of guarding the interests of their patients and the state walked the extra-mile in protecting the interests of all patients in all public and private hospitals.
“The (hospital) management abandoned their job,” he said adding the private hospital authorities should have set up their generator room in the first floor as the premises was in a low-lying area pretty close to river Adyar.
To another question on action against the hospital, he said “the law would take its course.”