The authorities at the Government Medical College Hospital here are in a fix these days.
The hospital, one of the two government-designated facilities for COVID-19 treatment in the district, is gradually opening up for non-COVID treatment, and there is a drastic rise in the number of such patients. However, other government and private hospitals designated for the purpose are reluctant to admit infected persons with existing health problems, who do not have severe COVID-19 symptoms. First-line treatment centres (FLTCs), which were supposed to house asymptomatic as well as those with mild symptoms, are getting closed down as well.
“Though there is a rise in the number of non-COVID patients, there has not been a drastic drop in the number of infected persons. So, to manage the patient numbers if we refer asymptomatic persons or those with mild infections, who may have other health issues, to these private hospitals, they are insisting on a negative test result. Government hospitals in the periphery too are not so keen on sharing the burden of COVID-19 patients with us,” some doctors at the hospital told The Hindu.
As a result, a few wards are bursting at the seams, and patients are forced to be accommodated in the corridors. Being a major healthcare centre in the government sector in the Malabar region, the MCH gets patients not only from Kozhikode, but from districts such as Kannur, Malappuram, Kasaragod, and Wayanad.
To address the rush in the general medicine department, the authorities recently decided to temporarily open the building being constructed under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) for admitting non-COVID patients from December 28. According to sources, they will be admitted in four wards on the second floor.
The paramedical staff required are being redeployed from the FLTCs under the medical college hospital. Sources, however, pointed out that the facilities at the PMSSY block are yet to be fully functional and how far this step would be effective remains to be seen. A majority of wards in general medicine and a few wards in surgery, ENT, orthopaedics, dermatology, and gynaecology are still being used only for COVID treatment.
With the academic sessions expected to begin in the coming months, the teachers at the medical college are concerned how the situation in the hospital will impact the students.