Mysore/Mysuru: For people accompanying pregnant women to the State-run Cheluvamba Hospital for child birth, earth is the bed and sky is a blanket. It may sound strange, but true.

A dip in mercury coupled with occasional rain is posing more problems for the people taking shelter outside the Hospital. After dark, many of them are found cuddled inside their blankets. Shady trees, stone benches and the hospital campus surrounded by cemented floors are occupied by attendants every night as they have no dormitory inside the Hospital. Those who get a space at bus stops opposite the Hospital consider themselves fortunate.

On an average, over 60-65 deliveries are done daily at the Hospital of which over 70 percent are normal. So, women from Mysuru, Hunsur, H.D. Kote, Nanjangud and some from other districts too come here as they consider this Hospital safe and cost-effective. The increased number of normal deliveries instead of Caesarean Section at the hospital has also contributed to the rise in number of women coming here for child birth. 

But the plight of people accompanying pregnant women is quite horrible. The Hospital authorities do not allow anyone to stay inside the Wards with the patient to check the spread of COVID-19. The attendants, mostly family members, are called inside by doctors or nurses only when they are required. Otherwise they are forced to spend time inside the park just opposite the Hospital building exposing them to rain, hot sun and cold breeze.

Aware of such a situation, usually patient attendants carry blankets and bedspreads to rest inside the park while their dear ones are safe inside the Hospital wards. But not all attendants carry protective gears and as such, they are forced to spend their time in open weather. 

It is pathetic to see a large number of people sitting inside the park with their bags and baggage day and night till their patients are discharged from the Hospital. They eat, sit and sleep below the trees under the open sky risking their health, especially amidst the COVID contagion.

Heritage rules

Since Cheluvamba Hospital building has been declared as a heritage structure, no new building is allowed within its surrounding area.

Though the previous Government allowed the construction of a building to house Indira Canteen near the Hospital, permission was not granted to build a dormitory. 

However, K.R. Hospital, which is next to the Cheluvamba  Hospital, has an exclusive dormitory for attendants of patients and there is a growing demand for such a facility at Cheluvamba Hospital that gives the best medical facilities and that too free for women. 

There are good facilities available for doctors, nurses and other Hospital staff but no space has been made for attendants of patients.

Dormitory planned

When contacted, Dr. C.P. Nanjaraj, Dean and Director, Mysore Medical College and Research Institute (MMC&RI), told Star of Mysore, “There is a Nursing Hostel just behind the Cheluvamba Hospital. The construction of boys and girls Under-Graduate Hostel is going on. If we find space, the nurses will be accommodated in that hostel. Then the existing Nursing Hostel could be converted into dormitory where patient attendants can be accommodated.”

According to him, the Police have identified the K.R. Hospital premises as a dangerous hotspot due to illegal activities. 

“To check this, we have planned to increase the height of the existing wall and tighten security at a cost of Rs. 30 lakh,” Dr. Nanjaraj added.