MLA wants facilities at hospital

Has written to Health and Family Welfare Dept commissioner seeking more staff

Since the General Hospital had been upgraded to a 100-bed capacity, facilities and infrastructure should be provided in accordance to the capacity, the MLA has written.
It can be recalled that the commissioner of Department of Health and Family Welfare had urged the Government to upgrade 63 taluk hospitals in the State to 100-bed capacity on November 16, 2006.

In proportion to the increase in the capacity, he had also urged the Government to create 2,543 posts. On December 5 the same year, the appeal was accepted by the Government which passed Government Order (1068 CGM 2006) was passed on January 25, 2007.

Additional posts
The Government has ordered the creation of additional posts after the completion of the 60 per cent of the building for the Government Hospital.
It had also suggested that the building be named Suvarna Karnataka project. Earlier, medicines worth Rs four lakh were supplied to the hospital, when the hospital had just 30-bed capacity.

Suffering from shortage
With regard to the beds, the staff strength was 30 then. After the hospital was upgraded to 100-bed in 2008-2009, medicines worth Rs 8.86 lakh were being supplied. The staff was increased from 30 to 43. But, for a 100-bed capacity hospital, there was a need for at least 82 staff.

The problems of the hospital did not just stop at this. The necessary infrastructure, building construction to accommodate the additional beds, never came about.
Although medicines were supplied from the Government pharmacy to the hospital, during emergencies, doctors had to purchase certain emergency and life-saving drugs from the local market.

The chief executive officer of the Taluk Panchayat, Taluk Panchayat President, Accountant, Treasurer and several others were the members of the executive committee of the General Hospital.

Earlier, the Taluk Health Officer was the member secretary of the hospital. On January 18, 2010, the Karnataka Health System Development and Reform Project appointed the Administrative Medical Officer as the member secretary of the executive committee, making his approval necessary for the purchase of emergency medicines.
And this had to be again approved in the general body meeting of the Taluk Panchayat. This meeting is always attended by the Tahsildar. But recently, after examining the files of the General Hospital, the Tahsildar created the Arogya Raksha Samithi mandatory for a 100-bed capacity hospital and insisted that his (Tahsildar’s) nod was also required for the purchase of emergency medicine.

Wait begins...
Now that the MLA has written to the commissioner of Department of Health and Family Welfare seeking additional infrastructure and staff, the hospital staff are waiting with the fingers crossed.
DH News Service