Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH), the tertiary referral centre for several Western districts, had faced several infrastructure, equipment and medicine deficiencies.
Its only source of funds was the annual budgetary allocation of nearly Rs. 6 crore for a quarter, which was just about sufficient for the day-to-day expenses of running the facility.
The hospital witnessed around 6,000 outpatients everyday and had a total of 1,247 inpatients and yet, it did not have shelters for patient’s relatives in most of the wards, lacked adequate drinking water in all departments, and faced budgetary shortfalls in procuring expensive drugs.
However, with the implementation of the Chief Minister’s Health Insurance Scheme (CMHIS) since January 2012 at the hospital, it has generated Rs. 32.52 crore by treating 24,408 cases. And, this revenue has been used to augment the hospital’s infrastructure.
The infrastructure works are taken up as and when the CMHIS funds are released by the insurance company.
Hospital Dean A. Edwin Joe says the insurance scheme has funded the purchase of several sophisticated equipment as well as some low-end but highly-needed equipment, which were not bought earlier due to fund constraints.
B. Asokan, Medical Superintendent of the Hospital, says Rs. 7.25 crore has been spent on hospital infrastructure improvement including purchase of new equipment with funds from CMHIS. Further, the hospital has been reimbursed Rs. 1.82 crore for cochlear implants besides another Rs. 10 crore for various other procedures.
(reporting by R. Sairam)
