Poor patients need not have to go to private or corporate hospitals here to avail themselves of life saving treatment, with the state-of-the-art intensive care unit (ICU) coming up at the State-run Krishnarajendra Hospital and Cheluvamba Hospital, attached to Mysore Medical College and Research Institute (MMCRI).
Cheluvamba Hospital lacked ICU despite being one of the largest healthcare facilities in the region for women and children. On an average, it witnesses about 15,000 deliveries a month.
One of the reasons cited for maternal deaths at the hospital was lack of intensive care availability. In its absence, the patients had to be shifted to the ICU in K.R. Hospital.
A High Dependency Unit (HPU) for handling emergency cases is also ready. Such a facility was already operational at the State-run Vani Vilas Hospital for Women and Children in Bengaluru, which also witnessed 10 maternal deaths during the same period.
Emergency cases requiring intensive care from this hospital had to be shifted to K.R. Hospital, which has a smaller surgical ICU with limited beds (which has been expanded now to 16 beds). On many occasions, patients were shifted to private hospitals with the beds always occupied with patients at K.R. Hospital’s ICU, forcing patients to pay hefty ICU charges.
MMCRI Director B. Krishnamurthy told The Hindu that the ICU for Cheluvamba had become very essential considering the number of cases it handles. In its absence, cases were either shifted to K.R. Hospital or private hospital. This can be avoided now with a dedicated ICU for Cheluvamba set up at a cost of ₹1 crore.
Thanks to the National Urban Health Mission (NUHM), the ICU facility at Cheluvamba is nearing completion. The 10-bed ICU may be ready in two weeks, Dr. Krishnamurthy said and added that installation of air-conditioners, oxygen lines had been done and only equipment were remaining to be installed.
The existing ICU at K.R. Hospital is being expanded, adding more beds and equipment. It will be no less than the ICU facilities in corporate hospitals, he said, adding that donations had been raised to facelift the facility, which will help many poor patients. “Donations had been raised even for the civil works,” he said.
Most importantly, the two ICU facilities will have dedicated staff, including duty doctors who have been exclusively appointed to aid the patients, according to Dr. Krishnamurthy.
K.R. Hospital has a total capacity of around 1,330 beds, which includes 335 in general medicine, 313 in general surgery and about 500 in other specialities such as ENT, ophthalmology, urology, plastic surgery and psychiatry. The hospital has 24-hour casualty, radiology, microbiology, pathology and biochemistry laboratories, and blood bank and pharmacy. Super-specialities have been introduced and patients have had the benefit of utilising plastic surgery, urology, nephrology, cardiology, laser surgery, burns’ ward and dialysis services.
