K.R. Hospital set up desks in all the departments to examine and treat only female patients on Wednesday, on the occasion of International Women’s Day.
Hundreds of women, most of whom were from rural areas and slums in the city, benefited from the special arrangement at the hospital, which posted female doctors and nurses at all the special counters. Special desks were set up in the ENT, dermatology, general medicine, ophthalmology and oncology departments and the burns ward.
Sharada, a patient from K.R. Nagar, told The Hindu that she was pleasantly surprised by the special arrangement and was examined and given a prescription within 15 minutes of her arrival at the hospital. “Earlier, it used to take nearly four hours of waiting to be examined by the doctor,” she said.
Mamtaz Begam of Nazarabad echoed similar sentiments and expressed hope that such an arrangement would be made a permanent feature at the hospital. She said many poor women come to the hospital frequently for getting treatment for various ailments.
The hospital authorities said they are planning to set up special desks exclusively for women in at least a few departments which are frequented by female patients. The hospital will provide this facility permanently, once it has a full strength of doctors, they said.
Meanwhile, the Mysuru chapter of the Association of Physicians of India plans to celebrate Women’s Day on Thursday by organising a free health check-up camp for women at Shakti Dhama in Saraswathipuram.
Pramoda Devi Wadiyar will inaugurate the camp at 11 a.m. Shakti Dhama is a rehabilitation and development centre for destitute and estranged women, working to provide them vocational skills and make them self-reliant.
