Every morning, an online residents-only forum in Cooke Town is greeted with the news that thousands of hospital beds are available in Bangalore. The post comprises a simple spreadsheet with details of hospitals beds and more info.

Payal Satish updates this spreadsheet regularly  — if not daily — with information she gathers from official sources. At a time when the same forum is filled with posts that are cries for help and panic that there are no beds available, Satish’s spreadsheet should come as a ray of sunshine.

With some colleagues' help, she gathers her information from the BBMP — the city corporation — who have centralised the process of hospital admissions. 

“The reason I decided to do this is because lots of people said there are no beds available. I came across the BBMP site that updates the available beds (click here) regularly. They’ve been tasked with allocating beds and I felt it was important to highlight this information,” Satish told Explocity

At the bottom of this article is the position as of yesterday (10 May 2021). There is also a link to download the spreadsheet. 

The sheet lists the availability of beds. At the time of need, not many know that in the doom and gloom of shortage of beds, the BBMP has made over 2900 beds available (as of 4th May). They keep adding to the count.

There are others joining in to help. The Sikh community in Bangalore was responsible for getting the BBMP to convert the huge Koramangala Stadium into a Covid emergency shelter. That’s another 100 beds.

Satish’s list has private hospitals, government hospitals, covid care centres, and ICU beds.

Check the spreadsheet below. It is updated very often, if not everyday.

Other than the information from the BBMP — such as beds and oxygen suppliers, her sheet also contains useful numbers such as hospital numbers. She got these from Google and has called a few to check. 

NOTE: We need to say that Explocity has not called and vetted any of these numbers or any of the information mentioned in this document and in the links to which we point. We reproduce this information and provide access through links purely as a public service and ask that everyone check all the information for themselves. We would like to say that this disclaimer extends to Ms Satish and her team.

Satish pointed out that she was not the only one providing information.

“People who have built apps to provide this information are doing a much better job and providing way more information,” she said, “but since I don't have that ability, I figured a simple excel sheet will just have to do at this point. It is accessible, easy to read by any group and puts things in the right perspective.” Further she mentioned that this is a BBMP list and contact details may have changed. But this is a starting ploint.

Tina Patrao, a knowledgeable and valuable resource of the Cooke Town community, (read, "Tina Patrao Does Not Want To Be Called The Angel Of Cooke Town" Explocity, Feb 2021) agreed. She advises people to consider such lists as a point of reference. "Lists are dynamic," she told Explocity, "and numbers change."

Patrao mentioned there were many reasons why numbers change. She said, for example, that suppliers of oxygen and concentrators are probably unable to handle the volume and type of phone calls that they would received, and that too, through the night. So they may have switched phones or simply switched them off. There are other similar reasons why an otherwise valid list might be hard to use.

Patrao also said that the BBMP has a central number to call (listed at the end of this article). That too was hard to reach but she did say that they have added so many volunteers to receive calls to increase the number of calls answered.

Payal Satish is not new to bringing cheer to a forum. During the 2020 lockdown,  Satish said people were lonely and being driven to depression. So she created the facebook page, Good Vibes Only, a page for only good news. It has now grown to about 1000 followers. 

“Everyone can’t be a frontline worker but each of us can do something to help,” she said.

A central part of Satish’s message is that the public should recognise the good work of the BBMP. She says they are not only the most credible source of information but also the most reliable. “Let me remind everyone that all I do is update a simple spreadsheet,” Satish told Explocity modestly. But another resident said that would be understating the value of the simple exercise.  While Payal Satish made no claim nor takes credit for this exercise and was modest to the point of self-effacement, People we spoke to in Cooke Town were appreciative of someone taking the effort to do their part.

We asked her how she maintains peace of mind, given the situation is quite grim. Giving back in any small way helps Satish get through the day, and, “I keep things in perspective,” she said. 

If you are in need of a bed, please contact the BBMP helpline by calling 1912. Payal Satish’s helpful tip is to have one person from your support group handling different tasks, one just calling the helpline till they get through one of the 500 lines, one just calling for oxygen, etc. This simplifies an already streamlined but stressful situation. 

Again, the list updated by Payal Satish and team is given below. It will be updated often if not daily. 

Disclaimer: This article is about Ms Payal Satish's efforts and does not purport to be a source of information about availability of hospital beds or any and all matters related to the coronavirus pandemic. Links are provided purely for context and information. Nothing in this article should be construed to be advice or recommendation. Readers are advised due diligence in all matters related to this subject and not to take this article as researched fact.