The management of the State-run K.R. Hospital here has set its eyes on establishing a jumbo OPD block with most key departments under a single roof in its bid to make services more patient-friendly and ease the rush the hospital encounters daily.
A ₹90-crore project had been prepared for constructing an exclusive OPD block with a state-of-the-art diagnostic laboratory and other facilities as the space set aside for out-patient services had become inadequate and patients were made being to wait outside the main building.
The special wards’ block of the hospital is likely to make way for the proposed three-storied OPD block.
On an average, 3,000 people avail out patient care at K.R. Hospital daily. Patients from neighbouring districts also avail services here, increasing the load on the existing infrastructure, hospital sources said.
The proposal of Mysore Medical College and Research Institute (MMCRI) for increasing its UG intake from 150 to 250 was before the Medical Council of India (MCI), which is expected to announce its decision shortly. The institute was hoping to get its proposal cleared from the next academic year. One reason for improving hospital infrastructure was to comply with MCI norms.
K.R. Hospital Medical Superintendent Srinivas told The Hindu that a ₹90 crore proposal had been submitted to the Directorate of Medical Education for the upcoming budget. As per the plan, the ground floor will have labs, a blood bank, drugs store, and a medical records room. The first floor will exclusively be for out-patient services and a portion of the second floor will be equipped with a 30-bed ward for emergencies.
K.R. Hospital and Cheluvamba Hospital are the teaching hospitals attached to the MMCRI under the Directorate of Medical Education. They cater to patients from Mysuru and neighbouring districts like Mandya and Chamarajnagar. Both hospitals are under pressure with the rising patient load as with each year, the infrastructure remains undersized to meet the demand.
At Cheluvamba Hospital, the number of referral cases of high-risk pregnancies and complicated births from public healthcare institutions in neighbouring districts has been rising consistently. About 550 critically ill infants are admitted to the NICU, where newborns with noticeable health problems are treated soon after their birth at the hospital every month.
Sick newborns are rushed to the NICU here from districts having government medical colleges with infrastructure of the NICU in place. The NICU currently lacks beds to accommodate babies born in the hospital.
The district hospital was one of the long-pending demands of the Department of Health and Family Welfare, since Mysuru lacked such a facility despite being a tier-II city. This demand is being met with the construction of the hospital under way on the PKTB hospital campus on KRS Road. Once the hospital becomes functional, the patient load in K.R. Hospital and Cheluvamba Hospital may drop, sources in the department said.
