With no proper upkeep, Isolation Hospital offers no consolation

The state-run Isolation Hospital on Old Madras Road is in a state of abject neglect and a stroll around the premises tells the tale of its sorry state. A broken compound wall, in fact there is none at the entrance, lack of gates and garbage dumped all over.

The Isolation Hospital (Epidemic Diseases Hospital) caters to patients who need isolation.
Severe cases of rabies, tetanus, gastroenteritis and other epidemic diseases are treated here. It is less known that the hospital has dedicated wards to treat patients with H1N1 and Ebola.

On any given day, the hospital sees not more than 10 cases. However, whenever there is an epidemic outbreak, the corridors of the hospital are full of patients, say staff members.

The campus is poorly lit, there are weeds all around, the connecting road is in a poor condition and one can find animal litter everywhere.

Liquor bottles and matchboxes that are found strewn is proof that the hospital premises turns a haven for anti-social elements at night.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      With no gates at either entrances to the premises, intruders have a field day at night.
The new building is yet to be handed over to the hospital authorities, forcing them to function out of the old building.

If these issues were not enough for the authorities to tackle, the Isolation Hospital is also short-staffed.

One of the oldest public hospitals in the City, located near the Swami Vivekananda Road Metro Station, it runs with just three doctors working in shifts to treat in-patients. Out of the four sanctioned posts, one of them is vacant for over a year now. The Group ‘D’ staff have a work overload as 22 posts are vacant.

Heritage structure

A portion of the hospital premises was acquired Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited during the construction of the Metro. The hospital’s old building, which is a heritage structure, cries for attention.

Records with the Revenue department show that the hospital has been in existence since 1928.

However, historians have traced its existence back to Tipu Sultan’s period, when it was used as a horse stable.