KOZHIKODE: While the patients and relatives cry for space, the three floors of taluk hospital, Koyilandy, lie vacant and unfinished. This has forced the people to go to either the private superspecialty hospitals here or the Medical College Hospital (MCH).
"In case of emergencies we have to go to the private hospitals in Kozhikode or the MCH. This is a big problem because of the heavy road traffic," said a local resident. According to R.S. Abhinav of Keezhariyur, Koyilandy, his nephew, a five-year-old child died a week ago due to fever that affected her brain. A child specialist confirmed that she had epilepsy and they rushed her to a private hospital in Kozhikode where she died.
The construction of the fourth, fifth and sixth floors of the general hospital is at a standstill. According to the municipal chairman, around 1,500 to 2,500 outpatients visit the hospital daily and over 160 patients are admitted.
"The construction did not progress due to some technical issues such as fire safety work and lack of road connectivity," said K. Sathyan, municipality chairman. "About Rs 1.5 lakh will be spent for the road access and the old building will be dismantled soon," he pointed out.
New operation theatre and ICU are proposed in the upcoming floors which will be executed through a Rs 5.5-crore project to be started within two months. "The maternity department, lift services, scanning and dialysis units will be set up soon," he said and added that more work has to be done for the functioning of the higher floors.
However, K. Dasan MLA assured that all the materials required for the work were made available and the fire safety work was at the finishing stage. Hospital superintendent Dr P. Prathibha refused to comment on the matter.
