The Government Multi Superspeciality Hospital in Omandurar Estate has suspended all surgeries for the past three days following malfunction in its chiller plant.
Doctors at the hospital which specialises in performing complicated surgeries in various specialities including cardiothoracic, hand reconstruction, orthopaedics and neurosurgery, said they had to postpone surgeries as there was no airconditioning in the operation theatres.
Trouble was detected a fortnight ago, when the authorities noticed a gradual slowdown in the cooling capacity. The Public Works Department officials had identified the fault and tried to repair it but since there was delay the officials ordered for 150 pedestal fans to be installed in the various rooms.
“The building is a sealed structure. We tried opening the windows but it did not help. So the first thing we did was to order pedestal fans,” said an official. “We also allowed patients to bring their own fan for their comfort.”
According to him, last Saturday, the pipes carrying water to the cooling plant began leaking and suddenly broke. The seventh floor of the hospital houses 10 chiller plants and a fault in even one of them could lead to breakdown of the entire system, an official explained.
A surgeon said it was impossible even to conduct the outpatient work. “I recently bought implants worth ₹15 lakh but I couldn’t do the surgeries,” he rued.
The hospital authorities were expecting the fault to be rectified by Monday but Tuesday’s bandh prevented work from being taken up. An official said the repair work had begun on Wednesday and airconditioning had been restored in some parts.
Health secretary J. Radhakrishnan said there was no delay in releasing the funds for the repair work. Last year the government had allocated ₹ 5 crore for maintenance. According to hospital officials, the government had released ₹1 crore for the repair work and they hoped to resume surgeries within a couple of days.
