<p>Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Saturday held a meeting with top guns from the private healthcare sector, looking to add more oxygen beds to the government's kitty to deal with the Covid-19 crisis that has led to an enormous shortage of beds and oxygen in the state.</p>.<p>Yediyurappa, who chaired the meeting, is said to have favoured a proposal in which the government will provide financial aid to private medical colleges to retrofit their beds with oxygen supply. </p>.<p>“Karnataka has 40 private medical colleges and 12 of them are in Bengaluru. Assuming that every college has 100 beds in its teaching hospital, then the government is looking at creating at least 4,000 oxygenated beds to treat Covid-19 patients, with 1,200 of them in Bengaluru,” a senior officer, who attended the meeting, said. </p>.<p>This figure will increase if beds in college hostels are also oxygenated, a proposal which was also discussed in the meeting. </p>.<p><strong>Read: <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/state/top-karnataka-stories/covid-19-karnataka-relaxes-lockdown-rules-grocery-shops-permitted-to-stay-open-from-6-am-to-12-pm-981355.html" target="_blank">Covid-19: Karnataka relaxes lockdown rules, grocery shops permitted to stay open from 6 am to 12 pm</a></strong></p>.<p>According to sources, Yediyurappa is keen on leveraging infrastructure available in the private sector to ramp up the availability of oxygenated beds, a dire need in the current scenario. </p>.<p>“We have oxygenated most of the beds on the government side. There are many non-oxygenated beds in private medical colleges,” the official pointed out. “A proposal was made in the meeting to give each institution Rs 3 crore to oxygenate the beds.”</p>.<p>Confirming this, the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said in a statement that giving financial aid to private medical colleges for setting up oxygen generation plants was discussed.</p>.<p>Deputy Chief Minister CN Ashwath Narayan, who set up the meeting, told <em>DH </em>that the government is looking at "5,000 oxygen beds”.</p>.<p>“It’ll be their manpower and infrastructure. Whatever we build will be temporary. So, this will be a good collaboration. It can be done within a month,” he said. “By then, the oxygen situation will ease. When that happens, we want to have enough oxygenated beds.”</p>.<p>The meeting was attended by Narayana Health chairperson Dr Devi Shetty, Manipal Hospital's chairperson Dr Sudarshan Ballal, Fortis Hospital's cardiovascular science chief Dr Vivek Jawali, Ramaiah Group of Institutions chairperson M R Jayaram among others. </p>.<p>To address the manpower shortage, it was decided to award ‘grace marks’ to final-year medical and nursing students who will be roped in for Covid-19 duty. Final-year students of pharmacy, physiotherapy, ayush, dental and hospital management will be used for pandemic work as well. </p>.<p>The government also agreed to examine the possibility of allowing foreign-educated doctors to register with the Karnataka Medical Council. </p>
<p>Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Saturday held a meeting with top guns from the private healthcare sector, looking to add more oxygen beds to the government's kitty to deal with the Covid-19 crisis that has led to an enormous shortage of beds and oxygen in the state.</p>.<p>Yediyurappa, who chaired the meeting, is said to have favoured a proposal in which the government will provide financial aid to private medical colleges to retrofit their beds with oxygen supply. </p>.<p>“Karnataka has 40 private medical colleges and 12 of them are in Bengaluru. Assuming that every college has 100 beds in its teaching hospital, then the government is looking at creating at least 4,000 oxygenated beds to treat Covid-19 patients, with 1,200 of them in Bengaluru,” a senior officer, who attended the meeting, said. </p>.<p>This figure will increase if beds in college hostels are also oxygenated, a proposal which was also discussed in the meeting. </p>.<p><strong>Read: <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/state/top-karnataka-stories/covid-19-karnataka-relaxes-lockdown-rules-grocery-shops-permitted-to-stay-open-from-6-am-to-12-pm-981355.html" target="_blank">Covid-19: Karnataka relaxes lockdown rules, grocery shops permitted to stay open from 6 am to 12 pm</a></strong></p>.<p>According to sources, Yediyurappa is keen on leveraging infrastructure available in the private sector to ramp up the availability of oxygenated beds, a dire need in the current scenario. </p>.<p>“We have oxygenated most of the beds on the government side. There are many non-oxygenated beds in private medical colleges,” the official pointed out. “A proposal was made in the meeting to give each institution Rs 3 crore to oxygenate the beds.”</p>.<p>Confirming this, the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said in a statement that giving financial aid to private medical colleges for setting up oxygen generation plants was discussed.</p>.<p>Deputy Chief Minister CN Ashwath Narayan, who set up the meeting, told <em>DH </em>that the government is looking at "5,000 oxygen beds”.</p>.<p>“It’ll be their manpower and infrastructure. Whatever we build will be temporary. So, this will be a good collaboration. It can be done within a month,” he said. “By then, the oxygen situation will ease. When that happens, we want to have enough oxygenated beds.”</p>.<p>The meeting was attended by Narayana Health chairperson Dr Devi Shetty, Manipal Hospital's chairperson Dr Sudarshan Ballal, Fortis Hospital's cardiovascular science chief Dr Vivek Jawali, Ramaiah Group of Institutions chairperson M R Jayaram among others. </p>.<p>To address the manpower shortage, it was decided to award ‘grace marks’ to final-year medical and nursing students who will be roped in for Covid-19 duty. Final-year students of pharmacy, physiotherapy, ayush, dental and hospital management will be used for pandemic work as well. </p>.<p>The government also agreed to examine the possibility of allowing foreign-educated doctors to register with the Karnataka Medical Council. </p>
