Mysuru: Ten Baby Warmer equipment including the vital Neonatal monitors were donated by Gunamba Maternity and Child Welfare Trust to Cheluvamba Hospital for Women and Children in city yesterday.

President of the Trust and Mysore Royal Family Member Pramoda Devi Wadiyar donated the equipment for the benefit of the new-borns at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in Cheluvamba Hospital.

Speaking on the occasion, Pramoda Devi said that the equipment was donated after learning about lack of such a facility at the hospital. Gunamba Maternity and Child Welfare Trust that was established in the year 1924 has a history spanning 100 years. The Trust, which started functioning with a seed fund of Rs. 20,000, became defunct for some time, before it got a new lease of life. Since the last 10 years, the Trust is focusing mainly on child care, she said.

The Trust was founded with an objective to serve rural people, with plans on the anvil to provide required medical equipment and other facilities to Tulsidas Hospital and Government Children’s Hospital, Gundlupet, in the coming days. The service activities of the Trust are being carried out with the cooperation of all the office-bearers of the Trust, said Pramoda Devi.

Dr. K.R. Dakshayani, Dean and Director of Mysore Medical College and Research Institute (MMC & RI) said MMC & RI (previously MMC), which was established with a far-sighted vision by the Maharajas of Mysore in 1924, initially had 20 students, which has now up to 200 Under Graduate (UG) students. The proposal has been submitted to increase the intake to 250 students, which is expected to be a reality soon, she noted.

 “K.R. Hospital, which started functioning with 20 beds later became popular as Doddaspathre and  has now expanded to five hospitals, with 2,390 beds, namely, Cheluvamba Hospital, K.R. Hospital, PKTB Sanatorium, Trauma Care Centre and Princess Krishnajammanni Super Speciality  Hospital. Doctors have been discharging their duties in unison,” added Dr. Dakshayani, crediting Maharajas of Mysore for making this possible.

Rs. 75 cr. OPD complex

The Out-Patients Department (OPD) complex will be coming up at an estimated cost of Rs. 75 crore, that will benefit more patients. The equipment donated by Gunamba Trust will be more helpful in meeting the growing demand for health service. In addition, the proposal has been made for 200 beds. The 100-bed ICU units for each of pregnant women and the new-borns, if approved, may be beneficial in providing quality services, she added.

Deputy Commissioner G. Lakshmikanth Reddy, Hon. Secretary of Gunamba Trust M. Lakshminarayan, RCH Officer Dr. Mohammed Shiraz Ahmed, Medical Superintendent of Cheluvamba Dr. Sudha, Head of OBG Dr. Lakshmikanth, Medical Officer Dr. Shivarama Krishna, Child Health Officer Dr. D.G. Nagaraj and others were present on the occasion.