The Government Medical College Hospital (MCH) at Kalamassery is gearing up to go back to being a 300-bed COVID treatment facility to handle the surge in cases and offer crucial COVID treatment services. But, medical students, house surgeons, and the parent-teacher association at the institution are all displeased with the district administration’s decision to turn it entirely into a COVID treatment centre.
The hospital is in the process of shifting non-COVID patients to other government facilities. A total of 36 ICU beds will be available for COVID care.
While the Ernakulam unit of the Kerala Government Medical College Teachers’ Association had earlier suggested that the government must reconsider its decision to convert the MCH entirely into a COVID hospital, it appears to have now softened its stand. The association had suggested that academics should continue at the college and the MCH should be used to treat only category C patients, so that treatment for non-COVID patients can also continue. “But in an emergency situation, with a rapid rise in number of cases and patients requiring admissions and expert care, we might be forced to convert fully into a COVID treatment centre. Meanwhile, the peripheral centres should be strengthened and more facilities made available, so that academics and non-COVID services can resume at the earliest,” said Dr. Unmesh A.K., president of the association.
Health officials maintain that the facilities at the MCH are crucial in handling the recent spike in cases. Sources said around 35 COVID-positive women were being provided antenatal care at the MCH.
“The facility is crucial for deliveries in the case of COVID-positive pregnant women. When the district saw a surge in cases earlier, we were dependent on the MCH to handle the patient load. This time, the number of patients is much higher than what we saw then. Using all available resources at the MCH is absolutely necessary,” said Dr. Mathews Numpeli, district programme manager, National Health Mission.
Lakshmi Raghavan, chairperson of the students’ union at the medical college, said that medical students, house surgeons and postgraduate students, were worried about their academics and clinical postings being disrupted. “We want this medical college to function just like the others in the State, where non-COVID services continue. Though the administration has informed us that non-COVID outpatient treatment might continue here, patients will not arrive since there is talk of the entire facility being a COVID treatment centre,” she said. “We understand that cases are on the rise. But facilities at other government hospitals should have been augmented to treat COVID patients,” she said.