Kasaragod medical faculty hospital to reopen as major well being centre

Express News Service

KASARGOD: The Kasaragod Medical College Hospital at Ukkinadka is more likely to be reopened as a major well being centre with out-patient (OP) consultations on December 1. A full-fledged hospital is no less than two years away, mentioned officers on the Directorate of Medical Education.

For one 12 months and a half, a covid hospital with 120 beds was run from the executive block of the medical faculty, which is beneath building since 2014. The covid hospital was wound up for 10 days on October 1 to impress the oxygen plant. 

“Now that the covid cases have fallen and can be managed by other hospitals in the district, we are planning to start general non-covid OP consultation in the administrative block,” mentioned Dr Roy N, particular officer (new medical schools), Directorate of Medical Education. The OP wing may have eight counters and shall be managed by 9 medical doctors and 9 nurses.

The authorities had appointed 12 medical doctors to run the covid hospital on the medical faculty constructing.

Of them three are non-clinical medical doctors and extra nurses shall be recalled until the medical faculty hospital is prepared, mentioned Dr Roy. The authorities had created 273 posts for the medical faculty hospital with the supply to fill half of the posts for covid therapy.

The proposed OP wing is not going to have speciality consultations and no sufferers shall be admitted. Initially, 50 sufferers will be attended to and it may be elevated to as much as 200 sufferers. The OP wing may have a laboratory, X-ray unit, and pharmacy which is able to give medicines freed from price.

Dr Roy mentioned the federal government tried to expedite the method of admitting medical college students by proposing the District Hospital in Kanhangad because the instructing hospital for the medical faculty.

But the National Medical Commission (NMC) rejected the proposal as the space between the medical faculty campus and the District Hospital is greater than 50km and can take round one hour and a half to traverse.

According to the NMC’s guidelines, a medical faculty can think about the Government District Hospital because the instructing hospital solely whether it is inside 10 km or will be reached in half-hour.

Now, Kasaragod Medical College will develop into a actuality solely after the hospital block turns into purposeful. “We have to run a fully functional hospital with 200 beds, ICU, and labour room for two years before we can apply for admitting students,” mentioned Dr Roy.

The particular officer mentioned he was anticipating the hospital constructing to be totally prepared by mid of 2024. If that occurs, the hospital can admit MBBS college students by mid-2026.

He mentioned the work in Kasaragod was “smoothly progressing” and there was no lack of funds to disrupt the projected timeline.

The residential blocks — which embody hostels and residential quarters for school members — can even be prepared earlier than 2016, he mentioned.

The authorities has sanctioned Rs 160 crore from the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) for the residential blocks.

The Academic Block was constructed at a value of Rs 25 crore sanctioned from the Kasaragod Package, and the Administrative Block was constructed at a value of Rs 88.20 crore. The work on the five-story hospital block is progressing.

In September 2020, the then well being minister Okay Okay Shailaja mentioned right here that the federal government was creating the Kasaragod Medical College to offer tremendous speciality service to folks.

Eight years after the then chief minister Oommen Chandy laid the muse stone for the medical faculty, Kasaragod shall be getting a PHC-grade medical faculty on December 1.