pune harrowing accounts are emerging from citizens who said loved ones with suspected covid19 symptoms were turned away by private hospitals in the city one bt kawade road resident whose mother developed breathlessness said he spent at least nine hours trying to get her emergency care the first hospital they approached directed them to naidu hospital fearing the woman could be a covid19 patient but doctors at naidu following an examination cited a lack of icu beds and directed them to another hospitalafter reaching the third hospital an empanelled one thats dutybound to care for covid patients the desperate family were again told there were no available icu bedsby now four hours had passed and the womans condition had worsened they then approached sassoon general which turned them down as well again claiming no available icu beds i started to lose all hope my mother was finally admitted at symbiosis hospital doctors there noted her severe condition and immediately started treatment in the icu the son told toithe issue of patients being denied beds was brought up recently during a discussion between empanelled private hospitals and divisional commissioner deepak mhaisekar who has started investigating hospitals that have allegedly failed to prove they turned patients away because of exceeded capacity reports have also come in of private hospitals that have signed an agreement of care with pmc turning down people with covid symptomsa kondhwa resident said his brother who vomited blood was turned away by two private hospitals in the city he was finally admitted at a hospital near the bund garden road he told toi mhaisekar admitted the problem exists we now have a software that will give us the exact situation in each hospital he added that the software will help create a public dashboard which will help people pick a hospital before leaving their homesthis dashboard mhaiskar said will provide categorywise details availability of beds for covid and noncovid patients and availability of ventilators and oxygen systems but there will be a thorough investigation of private hospitals that have been accused of turning away patients they may face action if its found they turned people away despite having free bedsthere are 650 private hospitals within pune city limits 18 are empaneled to treat covid19 patients from the 18 six have been declared covid19 hospitals where the maximum number of infected patients including those who are critically ill are being treated the rest are called covid19 care centres which will care for noncritical covid patients and those with other ailments