MLC objects to shifting of outpatient, inpatient divisions from Kundapur hospital to Udupi

Member of Legislative Council K. Pratapchandra Shetty, who was formerly the chairman of Karnataka Legislative Council, has objected to Udupi district administration shifting the outpatient and inpatient divisions at the Kundapur Government Taluk Hospital to the District Hospital in Udupi.

In a letter to Udupi Deputy Commissioner G. Jagadeesha on Wednesday, Mr. Shetty said that the taluk hospital in Kundapur has now been reserved for treating COVID-19 patients. He (Mr. Shetty), in an earlier letter to the Deputy Commissioner on April 21, had sought that the outpatient and inpatient divisions to be retained in the old building in the taluk hospital and the new building should be reserved for COVID-19 patients. He had sought the deployment of doctors and nurses for treating non-COVID patients.

Stating that the shifting of the two divisions to Udupi is an “anti-people” measure, the MLC said that if the Deputy Commissioner did not retain the two divisions in the taluk hospital itself, he will stage a protest in an appropriate forum.

The MLC said that now people in Kundapur and nearby areas have been forced to go to Udupi for availing themselves of treatment for common ailments. “

Prima facie , it appears that the measure is a conspiracy to make poor patients inevitably depend on private hospitals for treatment,” the MLC wrote.

Mr. Shetty said that the administration should realise that government hospitals are meant for the service of people.

He said that the population in Kundapur Town Municipality stood at 30,444. In addition, 2.23 lakh people residing outside the jurisdiction of the town municipality in Kundapur taluk depended on the government taluk hospital. But, now, the district administration, under the guise of COVID management, has made the people visit Udupi for common treatments.

The MLC said that the Udupi and Karkala taluk hospitals treated both COVID-19 patients and other common patients on the same premises. But when it came to Kundapur, the two divisions have been shifted to Udupi with “an ulterior motive”, he said.

Instances are that the government hospitals have created treating facility for COVID-19 patients outside the hospitals and not by shifting their outpatient and inpatient divisions elsewhere, he wrote.