Mysuru: The city’s K.R. Hospital, one of the biggest hospitals in the State built by the erstwhile Mysuru Maharajas decades ago, is facing severe shortage of beds to treat In-Patients. The same is the case with Cheluvamba Hospital, a maternity hospital located in the premises of K.R. Hospital.

With an average of more than 100 women from Mysuru and neighbouring districts getting admitted to the hospital everyday for child birth, the Cheluvamba Hospital is facing shortage of beds to accommodate pregnant women.

While the sanctioned bed strength of the hospital is 470, the hospital currently has 420 beds, thus falling short by 50 beds to cater to the health needs of pregnant women.

The hospital is facing another problem too, as it is short of rooms as well to accommodate additional beds. When SOM reporter visited the hospital, it was found that nearly 25 pregnant women were resting on beds that were placed on the corridors of the hospitals. This scenario was also found in K.R. Hospital too, where several patients, both men and women were seen being treated on beds laid on the floor.

According to Mysore Medical College and Research Institute (MMC&RI) Dean and Director Dr. C.P. Nanjaraj, the entire K.R. Hospital’s sanctioned bed number is 1,940, with K.R. Hospital having 1,050 and Cheluvamba Hospital 420.

Dr. Nanjaraj says that over 1,300 patients are treated as Out-Patients everyday, apart from nearly 300 In-Patients who are admitted under different Departments of K.R. Hospital. The hospital also caters to over 600 patients, who come for a whole range of pathology lab tests, he said.

Continuing, he said that over 40 major surgeries and more than 50 surgical procedures are performed everyday in the hospital. As far as Cheluvamba Hospital is concerned, nearly 400 women come to the hospital on an average everyday. The hospital facilitates 100 to 110 child births everyday, with 50 to 55 of them being normal deliveries and 10 to 15 caesarean section deliveries.

The hospital has 320 Doctors, 190 Staff Nurse, 55 Lab Technicians, 40 Clerical Staff and more than 350 C and D Group employees who are outsources, he said.

Admitting that Cheluvamba Hospital is facing shortage of beds, building and paramedical staff to cater to the growing number of patients, he said that K.R. Hospital and Cheluvamba Hospital put together, need 1,200 Staff Nurses. The Hospital has submitted proposal to the Government for recruitment of Nurses and they are awaiting the Government’s response in this regard, he said.

Pointing out that the present capacity of K.R. Hospital and Cheluvamba Hospitals, built by the erstwhile Mysuru Maharajas, was not enough to treat increasing number of patients, he said that there were plans to expand the hospital capacity. He further said that the K.R. Hospital was facing additional burden, as patients from neighbouring districts of Mandya, Hassan, Kodagu and Chamarajanagar were being referred to the hospital by the doctors there for various reasons.

Despite all these shortcomings, the patients, most of them from rural areas, prefer to get treated at this hospital and also many pregnant women like to have child birth at Cheluvamba Hospital. With increasing number of patients, the pressure on Doctors, Nurses and other staff is growing by the day which needs to be addressed at the earliest, says Dr. Nanjaraj who also said that the patients cannot be turned away for want of beds.

However, Dr. Nanjaraj hopes that all these problems would be addressed by the Government soon and the hospital will be more equipped to meet increasing demands of health care, covering a larger section of the society.

By Rajkumar Bhavasar