An associate professor of Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital, who tested positive for the SARS-CoV virus, was sent to Dhaka for treatment on Wednesday.
The news of the doctor, who is associated with a renowned hospital in Sylhet, testing positive and being sent to Dhaka for treatment has baffled people and raised worries about the faulty medicare system in Sylhet, reports Bangla Tribune.
According to Sylhet unit’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MHFW) Deputy Director, Dr Anisur Rahman, the patient was sent to Kurmitola General Hospital in the capital for better treatment. The decision was made after consulting his family and a team of specialist doctors of the district.
Anisur Rahman said in order to improve the situation, the authorities had been preparing Sylhet Shahid Shamsuddin Ahmed Hospital (SSAH) to provide treatment to patients with coronavirus symptoms. Therefore, as the patient’s family requested them to take the patient to Dhaka, the department concerned made arrangements to transfer him.
However, sources at the SSAH said the hospital was not equipped to treat patients who had already contracted coronavirus. The Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the hospital is not properly equipped.
Meanwhile, seeking anonymity, a doctor of SMOMH said the medical team, comprising the patient’s colleagues, was willing to take the patient to the hospital’s ICU. But after considering its condition, which could have been a threat to other patients’ wellbeing and also out of respect for the wishes of the doctor’s family, the team decided to send the patient to Dhaka.
The doctor also claimed that since officials from Sylhet MHFW did not agree to provide an ambulance, a private hospital came forward to help transfer the patient to the capital.
He also pointed out that hospitals in Sylhet were not properly prepared to tackle the pandemic yet.
To allay public concerns, SMOMH officials held a press conference, where its director, Brigadier General Dr Younusur Rahman and Dr Shishir Ranjan Chakrabarty, president of Sylhet Coronavirus Isolation Unit, asserted that the hospital was well equipped and prepared to treat any number of patients.
They both claimed that it was only because of the family’s wish that the ailing doctor was transferred to Kurmitola General Hospital.
