The Mandya Institute of Medical Sciences (MIMS) hospital is facing shortage of beds owing to an increase in the number of patients from Mandya and neighbouring districts.
The seven-decade-old hospital is one of the oldest government hospitals in the region.
The flow of patients from Mandya, Ramanagaram and Tumakuru districts have led to bed crunch in the maternity as well as other wards for the past few days. Patients are sometimes forced to share beds or sleep on the floor.
Despite having 106 beds, the hospital is witnessing shortage of beds in the obstetrics and gynaecology (OBG) department, Pushpa Sarkar, director of MIMS, said. Instead of the mandatory 550 beds, MIMS has 650 beds. The State government has decided to construct new wards/buildings to tackle the space crunch, she said.
“We cannot send back the patients. So when more patients arrive, we join beds to treat them all,” Dr. Sarkar said. She attributed the increasing flow of patients to MIMS owing to availability of trained staff, good infrastructure, easy access, and availability of ambulance services. As per statistics, at least 25 delivery cases take place in the hospital, which treats around 1,800 outpatients every day.
Meanwhile, the BJP has urged the government to improve healthcare facilities at MIMS. On Tuesday, a few party members staged a demonstration on the hospital premises against the lack of infrastructure facilities for patients. They demanded that the government evict those who have encroached upon land belonging to hospital, and use the space to build additional wards.
