New 32-bed unit still not enough

The Chattogram Medical College Hospital inaugurated its second intensive care unit with 32 beds on Saturday, bringing hope for patients requiring ICU facilities.

Although the CMCH, which started its journey in 1957, became a 1,010-bed hospital by 2001, it could not introduce ICU facilities until 2005, that too with only six beds.

The number of general beds were increased to 2,200 by 2022, but the ICU beds were increased to only 20 during this time, a meagre number compared to the huge number of patients coming for treatment every day.

According to hospital sources, while the number of general beds have increased significantly over the years to cope with the number of patients, for ICU it has been a different scenario.

At least 15 patients come to the ICU to get admitted every day, but we could only provide one or two beds due to constraints, said Dr Harun-ur-Rashid

As such, the ICU could hardly cope with the increasing number of patients requiring intensive care.

According to CMCH officials, at least 15 patients die at the hospital every day without getting a bed at ICU.

"At least 15 patients come to the ICU to get admitted every day, but we could only provide one or two beds due to constraints," said Dr Harun-ur-Rashid, head of the Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care at CMCH.

"Sadly, that too when a bed becomes vacant with the admitted patient having either discharged or died," he said.

"As a result, many patients who could not be admitted to ICU die without availing proper treatment," Dr Harun said. The new 32-bed ICU will improve the situation as more beds will be available for patients, he added.

Visiting the new unit on Sunday, it was seen that patients were yet to be admitted as the whole unit would have to be disinfected first, which will take a couple of days, said on-duty nurses.

While inaugurating the new intensive care unit on Saturday as chief guest, Health Minister Dr Samanta Lal Sen said steps will be taken to upgrade the ICU facilities at CMCH to 150 beds.

With the new 32-bed unit, the hospital now has 52 ICU beds, although it requires at least 100 ICU beds to serve its patients properly, said CMCH director Brig Gen Shamim Ahsan.

"We will gradually increase the number of ICU beds in future," he added.