Prioritise Health Sector: Gautam Khanna, Ficci Co-Chair Health Services Committee
The struggle of the hospitals, both private and government have been real during the pandemic. Falling short of equipment and essential items have cost some of the front-line health workers their lives. The private healthcare sector needs emergency assistance loans, tax waivers and clearing of pending dues from the government schemes. “If the government can give healthcare a priority sector status that would help the organisations apply for a loan at a reduced or subsidised rate,” says Gautam Khanna, Co-Chair, FICCI Health Services Committee.
“Other exemptions could include GST or Income Tax exemption,” he says in an exclusive interaction with BW Businessworld.
Nearly 5000 Covid-19 cases in the state, Maharashtra has been registered with the maximum number of cases in India. Khanna says Covid-19 has hampered the delivery of essentials like Personal Protection Equipment, risking healthcare staff. Khanna is the CEO of P D Hinduja Hospital & Medical Research Center.
According to him, the main bottleneck has been due to a shortage of PPE’s and inadequate testing due to which the safety of healthcare staff and other patients was being compromised. Hospitals like they have had to set up exclusive isolation wards, dedicated ICU’s and other necessary infrastructure to provide the best medical care for coronavirus patients, ensuring their staff and facilities are safe.
This has required hospitals to make significant investments to procure the necessary medical equipment, PPE and to follow safety and infection control protocols. Forecasting the impact of Covid-19 on hospitals, Khanna said, “This, combined with the drop in revenue, has had a huge financial impact and may take 6 – 12 months to stabilize after the lockdown.”
Although, the doctor suggests patients suffering from cancer and kidney ailments need to undergo timely medications and treatments like chemotherapy and dialysis. Radiology and AKD departments continue to function at the hospital following safety protocols but there could be several hospitals that are unable to continue due to this virus scare, confirms Khanna.
In addition to these, Khanna says, “We need a structural overhauling of Indian healthcare to make it more sustainable and agile to help cope with new challenges while catering to the needs of such a huge population.”
The coronavirus pandemic has posed several challenges for all hospitals including P D Hinduja Hospital & Medical Research Center. They have taken timely actions, as per government guidelines, to tide over this.
