A significant number of surgeries were called off, only a handful of patients visited outpatient departments, and an even smaller number chose to be discharged or admitted to hospitals.
Most hospitals, both private and government, had several wings flooded. Machines like MRI, radiation and CT scan, which are kept in the basement, were underwater and not functioning.
“There were a few surgeries and procedures. Admissions and OPD footfall were also significantly less,” a senior official of the state health department said on Tuesday evening. “Many CT scans and MRI machines at government medical colleges and hospitals, which are placed in the basements, are underwater. We apprehend that many of these could be damaged,” he said.
“The Kolkata Municipal Corporation is pumping out the water. On Wednesday, we are hoping the water will be cleared, and then assessments of damages could be done,” said the health official.
Most hospitals had fewer surgeries than on normal days.
At Belle Vue Clinic, 22 planned surgeries were cancelled, said a hospital official. “Only nine surgeries could take place. Many doctors were unable to reach the hospital,” said Pradip Tondon, CEO of Belle Vue.
“Only five patients were admitted to the hospital, all were emergency cases, from cerebral haemorrhage to dengue,” said Tondon.
Usually, around 50 admissions take place at the hospital on Loudon Street. “Most patients also did not want to be discharged because they were not sure whether they would be able to reach home safely,” he said. The hospital recorded three discharges on Tuesday.
Most of the employees who were on the day shift at Belle Vue were unable to reach, and so the night shift employees were asked to stay back, said Tondon.
“The nursing students at our college in New Town were ferried by bus to the hospital for assistance,” he said.
At RN Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences in Mukundapur, seven surgeries and one cath lab procedure were cancelled, said an official.
“There were 108 admissions as against around 130 on a normal day. The number of OPD patients was also much less,” said the hospital. The premise of the hospital was waterlogged till late on Tuesday evening.
The emergency ward of Peerless Hospital was flooded at around 4am. “We operated six pumps and finally the water could be removed at 10.30am. Treatment was continuing despite the waterlogging,” said Sudipta Mitra, chief executive of Peerless Hospital. “Many patients could not come due to waterlogging,” he said.
Many wards of government hospitals were waterlogged.
At RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, the trauma care centre, gynaecology and administrative buildings had knee-deep water.
Radiation and other investigations were also cancelled at many hospitals. A Howrah resident took his father, who is suffering from cancer, to a private hospital in south Calcutta for radiation on Tuesday morning.
“At the hospital, the staff told me, the radiation room, which is in the basement, was flooded and there were software glitches. They said it was not clear when the machine would become functional again,” he said.