Chandigarh: Out of the 99 life-saving ventilators allocated to the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32, under the PM CARES Fund during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, only 36 are currently operational. The remaining 63 machines have become non-functional, primarily due to a disruption in the supply of critical maintenance consumables required every six months.Hospital authorities said the primary reason behind the grounding of more than 60% of the ventilators was the irregular supply of mandatory replacement kits and consumables by the manufacturer. Standard medical protocols require ventilator systems to undergo routine maintenance and replacement of essential components, including specialised filters, breathing circuits, oxygen sensors and valve assemblies, twice a year to remain operational and safe for critical-care patients.The machines were manufactured and supplied by Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), a public sector undertaking under the Union ministry of defence. BEL was among the key government-backed entities tasked with mass-producing ICU ventilators during the height of the Covid-19 crisis.Following repeated follow-ups and administrative intervention over the growing inventory of idle equipment, BEL has now agreed to supply the required spare parts and maintenance consumables to restore the non-functional units.According to senior hospital officials, the agreement with the defence PSU is expected to break the administrative deadlock that had stalled repairs for months.“Once the fresh batch of consumables is delivered and installed by technical teams, a significant portion of the grounded ventilators will be recalibrated and brought back into critical-care service,” said Dr Vishal Guglani, medical superintendent, GMCH-32.The shortage of functional ventilators has frequently put pressure on GMCH-32’s intensive care units and trauma wards, which cater to a large number of critically ill patients from Chandigarh, Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. During periods of high patient inflow, the unavailability of these life-support systems forced the hospital to operate close to maximum capacity or rely on a smaller pool of independently procured equipment.
