Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) V. Vaithilingam has sought the intervention of Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Harsh Vardhan in restoring outpatient department (OPD) services at the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research.
In a letter to the Minister on Wednesday, the MP said the institute had been designated as COVID-19 speciality hospital by the Centre. After the lockdown was imposed, hospital authorities suspended OPD and all other treatment/surgeries except emergency cases.
Hundreds of people who were dependent on the hospital for treatment of various chronic ailments were badly affected. On any normal day, the hospital used to attend 8,000 to 10,000 people. Currently, the hospital provided treatment to only about 5 % of them, Mr. Vaithilingam said.
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Even those who were able to get consultation were not able to buy medicine from the campus as the pharmacy was not functional, he said.
Mr. Vaithilingam, therefore, requested Mr. Vardhan to give necessary direction to the authorities concerned to restore services.