Karnataka Health Minister directs officials to treat at least three times more patients at Mysuru District Hospital

Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao was surprised to see many wards were locked and many beds were lying vacant.

Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dinesh Gundu Rao inspected the district hospital on KRS road in Mysuru on Tuesday, and directed officials to treat at least three times more than what they are treating now. That should ease the patient burden at KR Hospital, he said.

He inspected the hospital for more than two hours, and noted that though there are five-star facilities at the hospital, the number of deliveries alone at the hospital is almost a quarter of those done at a Taluk hospital, he said.

Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao was surprised to see many wards locked and many beds lying vacant.

Later, he told media persons that, the hospital will get a dialysis centre, CT scan and MRI facilities. There are proposals to build a mortuary and set up a blood bank. All the facilities to set up SNCU (Special Newborn Care Unit) including baby warmers are ready, they would build a toilet near it to make it functional in a month's time. They plan to shift the ENT speciality unit from KR Hospital to the district hospital.

He even directed a change in the menu of breakfast at the hospital from bread to upma or poha or pongal. When some patients complained of drinking water filters not working, he directed officials to rectify them immediately.

In Mysuru district hospital among 196 sanctioned posts, 95 are vacant including those of two chief medical officers, three senior medical officers, one grade 1 nursing superintendent, one grade 2 nursing superintendent, 16 nurses, one psychologist, one clinical psychologist, one psychiatric social worker, one ECG technician, two senior medical radio technologists among others.

Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao said that they will take measures to fill vacant posts and get ten nurses immediately.

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Besides Casualty and Emergency units, the hospital has departments of medicine, general surgery, OBG (Obestric and Gynaecology), Orthopedics, Dental, ENT, Paediatric, Ophthalmology, Psychiatry, Dermatology, NCD clinic, Palliative care, Physiotherapy, Geriatric ward, Laboratories, X-ray, Ultrasound, Tabacco section clinic, Anti Rabies unit and others. It has 300 beds including 25 ICU beds, 12 HDUs, eight paediatric ICUs and eight paediatric HDUs, 180 oxygenated beds and 60 non-oxygenated beds.

The hospital started functioning in March 2020 as a Mysuru district Covid hospital. From January 2022 other facilities were started. So from January 2022 till May 2023, they have treated 2,45,275 patients on an Out-Patient basis, and 6,955 inpatients. They have also done 956 surgeries including 356 OBG, 148 Ortho, 142 ENT, 112 Ophthalmology and 216 other others.

From April 2022 till May 2023, they have treated 15,574 dog and animal bite cases and one case of rabies, two cases of Tetanus, and five cases of Diphtheria. They have also done 397 deliveries including 219 normal deliveries, and 178 LSCS (Lower Segment Cesariean sections).

All senior officials of the Department of Health and family welfare including Principal Secretary, T K Anil Kumar, Commissioner D Randeep, NHM Director Dr Naveen Bhat, Mysuru district health officer Dr K H Prasad, District Surgeon who is in-charge of the district hospital T Amarnath and others were present. MLAs K Harish Gowda and Anil Chikkamadu accompanied him.

Review meet

Dinesh Gundu Rao even gave a surprise visit to the Government hospital at Kyathamaranahalli. He also held a review meeting of medical officers of all the taluks of Mysuru district and told them that existing hospitals and facilities must be utilised well to serve patients, than building new hospitals.