Government Medical College, Ernakulam, is yet to have full-fledged facilities matching its stature despite its takeover by the government from the Co-operative Academy of Professional Education on December 11, 2013.
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Teachers at the medical college and organisations including Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer Movement have urged the government to address the shortcomings as patients seeking emergency care continue to be referred to medical colleges in Kottayam and Thrissur owing to lack of adequate facilities. They are forced to seek treatment at private hospitals spending huge sums, they said.
The lack of super-specialty facilities remain a major drawback when it comes to expansion of the hospital. The worst affected areas in terms of human resource include gastro medicine, gastro surgery, urology, plastic surgery, and paediatric surgery. The institution is yet to have a neurosurgeon despite the rise in road accidents in Kochi. The facility is yet to have postgraduate courses in surgery, gynaecology, orthopaedics, and anaesthesia, according to a memorandum submitted by the Krishna Iyer Movement to the Chief Minister.
Well-wishers of the medical college have urged the authorities to speed up construction of the super-specialty block using assistance under the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB). They have also requested the government to set up a modern trauma care unit without delay, besides suggesting a master plan for projects to be implemented in the next 10 years.