Seeing their loved ones recover from COVID-19 is what many families eagerly wait for. Going a step ahead, some of them are giving back to the government hospital that played a pivotal role in the recovery of family members.
The Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH), one of the major COVID-19 hospitals in the city, has been receiving contributions from a number of such families. Whether in cash or kind, their donations are a way of expressing their gratitude and enabling the hospital to get the consumables required for patients.
For some of them, like the family members of Nivedha (name changed as she wished to remain anonymous), this was the first time they had stepped into a government hospital for treatment. On April 21, Ms. Nivedha, a professor in a government college, her 75-year-old father, husband and son tested positive.
While she and her son had mild symptoms and were in home isolation, her father and husband required hospitalisation because of lung involvement.
“That day, I spent hours pleading with many private hospitals on the phone to admit the two of them. But no beds were available. The private hospital where we usually go to asked us to wait until the next day to see if there was any discharge,” she recalled.
It was her colleagues who suggested that they approach RGGGH or the Government Corona Hospital, Guindy. “They said the hospitals were providing good treatment according to protocols. While my father got an oxygen bed, my husband was admitted to a normal ward at RGGGH,” she said.
Her husband said the hospital had doctors and nurses on round-the-clock duty, gave nutritious food on time and maintained cleanliness. “Both of us were discharged after 10 days. We would have spent a lot of money in a private hospital. Here, we did not spend a rupee. So we thought it was best to make our own contribution to the hospital,” he said.
The couple donated ₹1 lakh to the RGGGH.
E. Theranirajan, Dean of RGGGH, said a number of persons returned after treatment to donate. “A retired Central government officer donated ₹1 lakh, while the father of a patient donated ₹1 lakh on his wedding day. A former IAS officer and a doctor from Tiruvallur were among others who donated to the hospital,” he said.
Many of them have contributed to the ‘Wall of Kindness’ (Anbu Suvar), an initiative started at the hospital to help patients, especially those who come in emergencies, have access to essential things by receiving contributions from people. “People have contributed clothes and a range of toiletries under the ‘Wall of Kindness’. Some of them have donated money that is deposited in the hospital’s account. This is used to buy consumables. We have purchased clocks for rooms and television sets. We have also purchased and installed water heaters in patient rooms. We are utilising the money to purchase consumables for COVID-19 management,” he said.
