The 169-year-old Wenlock Hospital has received a boost with additional grant of ₹10 crore in the State Budget for restoration of the 1,000-bed heritage hospital. It has also received ₹3 crore for upgrading its Regional Advanced Paediatric Care Centre (RAPCC) into a Child Health Institute.
The district hospital — which serves patients from Dakshina Kannada, Shivamogga, Hassan, Uttara Kannada and parts of Kerala — had sought ₹18 crore from the government for restoring the old building. While it received ₹5 crore last year, the State government has allocated ₹10 crore to it this year.
The hospital has already received a grant of ₹10 crore from the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) for building a new 176-bed three-storeyed super-speciality block. The hospital has allocated ₹5 crore from its own ‘Raksha Samiti’ fund for this work. Hospital superintendent H.S. Rajeshwaridevi said bids for the work have been invited.
Furthering the assurance of Health Minister Ramesh Kumar to develop the RAPCC on the lines of Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced ₹3 crore for it. “This grant helps us maintain the building and purchase new equipment,” Dr. Rajeshwaridevi said. This annual grant will help to improve treatment facilities at the RAPCC, she added.
The hospital is now awaiting government clearance of its MoU with Kasturba Medical College to provide service of specialists in lieu of the latter’s use of the former’s facility for clinical experience for students. As part of the MoU, KMC will build a 350-bed surgical complex for Wenlock Hospital.
Super-speciality lab
The city is yet to get a laboratory for detecting communicable diseases as announced in the 2015-16 Budget. It is for detection of all communicable diseases including H1N1, dengue, malaria and chikungunya. Three such labs are presently functioning in Benglauru and Manipal. District Health officials proposed having this laboratory at Wenlock hospital. Nothing has happened so far, officials said.
