Madikeri: A delegation of Kodagu Institute of Medical Sciences Board Members recently met Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa and demanded the setting up of a super-speciality hospital in Madikeri.

There is no super-speciality hospital in Kodagu, a tourist hub in the lap of Western Ghats covering an area of 4,102 sq kms. Many Kodagu residents have been demanding a multi-speciality hospital since years but successive Governments have not taken any steps in this direction. 

Residents have been forced to travel more than a hundred kilometres, either to Mangaluru, Mysuru or Bengaluru, to avail benefits of advanced medicine, even in case of an emergency and most of the patients die before they reach their destination hospitals. 

The delegation told the CM that a super-speciality hospital would help provide emergency treatment with the latest facility for the accident victims. The delegation was led by Virajpet MLA K.G. Bopaiah and comprised Board Members of Kodagu Institute of Medical Sciences M.A. Niranjan, Dr. B.C. Naveen and Dr. Jayalakshmi Patkar. 

The delegation told the CM that whenever a major accident takes place in Kodagu, there are no facilities to provide emergency treatment and also accidents have increased over the years due to narrow roads. If a Trauma Centre is set up, it will help treat critically injured patients, the delegation told Yediyurappa. 

There are no cardiac treatment facilities and heart patients have to depend on visiting doctors from other districts like Mysuru and Mangaluru for treatment. 

Giving a patient ear, the CM told the delegation that he would discuss with officials and take measures to provide basic required facilities to Kodagu Institute of Medical Sciences.