Mysore/Mysuru: There is a desperate need to upgrade the century-old Krishnarajendra Hospital (K.R. Hospital) and include more and more facilities to cater to thousands of poor and economically weak patients who come here from Mysuru, Mandya, Chamarajanagar, Kollegal, Gundlupet and also Kodagu, said former Chamaraja MLA Vasu.

In a letter to Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, he said that the Hospital, along with the Cheluvamba Hospital is grossly inadequate to cater to the population needs and every day thousands of patients come here. The OPDs at all Departments are full and people are forced to stand in long queues to avail treatment, he said.

The Hospitals were built by the Maharajas according to the population 100 years ago and when the Hospitals were built, they were self-sufficient to the population then. There were very few patients then but still the infrastructure was developed to top standard by                                                         the Wadiyars.

Now with the rapid increase in population, even diseases have increased. With the advancement of technologies, more and more difficult and life-threatening ailments have surfaced. But sadly, the medical infrastructure has not been scaled up to match the advent of diseases. The healthcare infrastructure has been neglected over the years and the result is that facilities like K.R. Hospital have suffered lack of upgrades.

To treat the latest diseases, more advanced and high-tech equipment is needed and K.R. Hospital terribly falls short. Shockingly, there is not much modern equipment and even if there are materials, there is a shortage of expert staff to handle the equipment, Vasu stated                    in his letter.

Crucial Departments like Nephrology, Oncology, Cardiology, Psychiatry and other important wings do not have doctors, Professors and Assistant Professors. They don’t even have paramedical staff, nursing staff and D Group staff, he wrote.

“It is impossible to run a hospital of this magnitude and patients coming in critical condition are being turned away to either NIMHANS, Bowring or Victoria Hospitals in Bengaluru where the condition is even worse,” he stated, urging the CM to take immediate steps to improve the condition of the K.R. Hospital.

Vasu has given a copy of his letter written to the CM to Mysuru District Minister S.T. Somashekar, Health and Family Education Minister Dr. K. Sudhakar, Mysuru-Kodagu MP Pratap Simha and MLAs S.A. Ramdas, L. Nagendra and G.T. Devegowda.