Thanks to its efficient handling of suspected COVID-19 cases, Kalamassery Medical College Hospital may be elevated as 'Centre of Excellence'

The Government Medical College Hospital (GMCH), Kalamassery, is presently the cynosure of all eyes for its adept and efficient handling of suspected COVID-19 (coronavirus disease) infections through its state-of-the-art isolation ward, the largest in the state.

Yet, lack of infrastructure development and shortage of funds have more often than not prevented the medical institution from meeting the needs of its patients.

In this backdrop, a meeting was convened by the Justice Krishna Iyer Movement on Wednesday here with the aim to elevate the hospital as a 'Centre of Excellence'.

Writer and critic M K Sanoo presided over the meeting, in which the multiple issues plaguing the hospital, from an insufficient number of beds to lack of super-speciality departments and surgeons, were discussed. Long-term and short-term development plans for the hospital were also discussed at the meeting which was attended by around 50 medical officials and public representatives.

Members of the Justice Krishna Iyer Movement said the hospital was struggling to provide facilities for the 1,500-2,000 out-patients that visited the institution every day and was forced to refer a large percentage of them to other hospitals due to non-availability of specialist equipment and infrastructure.

“Though the government took over the hospital in 2013, it lacks a lot of facilities. Patient care is compromised when this happens,” said Dr Sanil Kumar, a member.

Dr Thomas Mathew, principal of Kalamassery Medical College who took part in the meeting, said that the government and the Health Department were giving top priority to the institution.

“Already, Rs 400 crore was spent to build a multi-speciality block near the medical college. Once the work is over in 2021, super-speciality departments can function there. Though we have some glitches in functioning, people should understand that it is not an easy task to elevate the medical college which was started by private individuals with 100 seats,” he said.

Ernakulam MP Hibi Eden, Kalamassery MLA V K Ebrahim Kunju, Vypeen MLA S Sarma, besides officials from the GMCH and general hospital took part in the meeting.