The Government Stanley Hospital has been sanctioned a total of Rs. 1.10 crore towards repair works. The generous allocation of funds is expected to enable the hospital improve its facilities.
On two occasions this year, faulty electrical wiring caused fires in the hospital buildings. However, no casualty was reported.
After the first fire, an inspection was taken up of the wirings in the hospital by the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) officials. A local official said that over a period of time, six letters had been written to the Public Works Department authoritieswhich maintains the hospital, urging them to repair the faulty wiring.
On Saturday, an electrical junction box in the casualty block near the security officer's room went up in flames, causing panic. The junction box, situated near the casualty block for women and the injection room and adjacent to a defunct lift, had been recently installed and it came as a shock when it caught fire, hospital staff said . Patients were evacuated to safety and the fire was put out using fire extinguishers installed at the block before fire tenders reached the spot , they said.
The seven-storey surgical block which is around 30 years old and the 20-year-old paediatric block across Old Jail Road are also in a state of poor maintenance.
According to dean, S. Gitalakshmi, the hospital sent a comprehensive proposal seeking to improve facilities at the two blocks. While the government had sanctioned Rs. 60 lakh for electrical rewiring, Rs. 50 lakh has been allotted for civil repair works.
“This year we have been allotted more funds as we had to take up repair works in the various blocks. Within two months, work will commence in the new surgical block and the paediatric block,” she said.
The hospital has also drafted a comprehensive proposal for the remodelling of the casualty block, the laying of road and the laying of new sewage and drainage water connections and is awaiting the sanction of funds. A proposal to build a bridge connecting the hospital to the college on the other side of the Monegar Choultry Road has also been forwarded, Dr. Gitalakshmi added.
