Mysuru: Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research Medical Superintendent Dr. K.S. Sadananda has denied allegations of negligence, maintaining that the hospital provides round-the-clock emergency care. 

“Emergency services are available 24×7, with duty doctors, cardiologists and postgraduate doctors deployed in every shift,” he said. Dr. Sadananda also alleged that misleading videos were circulated on social media. “Videos showing empty chairs were recorded when doctors were resting in designated duty rooms. CCTV footage confirms that doctors were on duty,” he clarified. 

Late arrival 

Speaking to Star of Mysore today, he acknowledged that 11 deaths were reported between June 13 and 15, but stressed that all patients had been admitted in extremely critical condition, suffering from multi-organ failure. Most of them were aged between 70 and 80 years, he said. 

“Some patients were brought to the hospital nearly 12 hours after suffering a heart attack, by which time the ‘golden hour’ had already been lost, he said.  

Describing Jayadeva as a tertiary referral hospital, Dr. Sadananda said, it receives only the most critical cardiac cases from Mysuru and five neighbouring districts. “Routine cases are treated at local hospitals. Only life-threatening patients are referred here,” he said. 

Shortage of beds, doctors 

He pointed out that patients begin arriving as early as 4 am from five districts and that the hospital is grappling with a shortage of beds. To address the growing demand, the Government has approved the expansion of the existing 400-bed facility to 600 beds at an estimated cost of Rs. 180 crore.  

He also rejected allegations that doctors were absent during duty hours. “Duty doctors were present throughout the day and night. Three physicians and two trainee doctors were on night duty. Patients received the required treatment and their families were kept informed,” he asserted. He said, the hospital currently has 65 doctors, including 19 cardiology specialists, but continues to face manpower shortages. “We handle around 900 outpatients every day and the pressure on staff is immense. We have requested the Government to sanction additional doctors and are managing despite being short-staffed,” he said. 

‘Mortality rate within the accepted range’ 

Citing hospital records, Dr. Sadananda said that during 2025, the hospital admitted 21,577 patients, of whom 1,245 died, resulting in a mortality rate of 5.77 percent. Between 2010 and 2025, a total of 1,62,735 patients were admitted and 10,767 deaths were recorded, reflecting a mortality rate of 6.62 percent. 

In 2026, up to June 15, the hospital treated 1,00,630 outpatients and admitted 9,461 patients. Of these, 499 died. Between June 1 and June 15 alone, 10,380 patients were treated in the outpatient department and 51 deaths were reported, resulting in a mortality rate of 5.02 per cent. 

“For tertiary referral hospitals, international benchmarks place acceptable mortality rates between 6 and 8%. Our figures are well within that range,” he said.