'Open portion of Wenlock Hospital for non-COVID-19 patients'

Mangalore MLA and former health minister U T Khader urged the district administration to take all precautionary measures and operate a part of Wenlock Hospital for non-Covid-19 patients.

The poor patients who were dependent on Wenlock Hospital for treatment faced many inconveniences after the hospital was designated as Covid Hospital to treat those testing positive to Covid-19, Khader told mediapersons in DCC building on Wednesday.

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The authorities can shift all the ventilators from the old wing of the Wenlock Hospital to the new super-speciality wing and Ayush wing to treat Covid-19 patients. The district administration and District In-charge Minister Kota Srinivas Poojary had promised that patients visiting Wenlock Hospital will get treatment in private hospitals free of cost.

But poor people continue to face untold miseries. They have no money to pay for private hospitals. It takes a minimum of two days to get approval under the Ayushman Bharath scheme for treatment. Unless it is approved, private hospitals do not treat patients for free, he explained.

Further, all the diseases are not covered under the Ayushman Bharath scheme, he added. District In-charge Minister, MLAs and MP should have visited private hospitals to understand the miseries faced by poor patients. Health care is required along with Covid-19 care, the former health minister stressed.

No preparedness

Further, he alleged that the district administration was ill-prepared for the monsoon. The disaster management committee meeting was not convened so far. The authorities should have identified flood-prone areas and nodal officers should have been appointed to cater to the needs of such areas.

Allow practice

District Youth Congress President Mithun Rai urged authorities to allow athletes, swimmers, bodybuilders to practice daily. “Sports is their profession. They are the assets of our district and all help should be given to them to allow them to practice, to maintain fitness,” he stressed.