The patient load on Krishnarajendra Hospital or K.R. Hospital in Mysuru, one of Karnataka’s oldest and busiest public healthcare facilities, has dropped markedly by over 40 percent with several departments shifted to the newly-established super-speciality hospital and the trauma care centre on KRS Road.
Officially, the two hospitals which were built in the last term of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, have now become operational for the purpose for which they were developed being fulfilled now with the sanction of manpower and equipment to the facilities.
Though they had been partially functional early this year with the MMCRI management shifting OPD and surgeries for easing load on K.R. Hospital, the two hospitals had remained non-operational for a long time in the absence of manpower and equipment.
While all 11 super-speciality departments, including nephrology, were shifted to the super-speciality hospital on September 4, the trauma care centre has become operational now with the shifting of Orthopaedic, plastic surgery and neurosciences departments.
MMCRI Dean and Director K.R. Dakshayani told The Hindu that the two facilities are fully operational with doctors already having started working from the new units in view of the shifting of all departments. Henceforth, patients seeking outpatient services, consultations and procedures need to visit the facilities instead of coming to K.R. Hospital.
Out of 228 staff appointed for the facilities attached to MMCRI, by the government, 15 are doctors, including casualty medical officers. Also, 140 staff have also been appointed from the resources of the MMCRI. With this, the staff requirement has been addressed by and large. The 140 staff includes doctors, casualty medical officers and the staff with specialised skills like handling OTs and so on, she added.
While the staff requirement for super-speciality has been met by about 70 percent, another 30 percent of staff needed for running the facility will also be done soon, the dean said. “We are managing the services roping in interns from the MMCRI,” she said.
At least 40 percent of the patient load had been eased with the trauma care centre and the super-speciality hospital becoming functional. “The hospitals were in need of more group C and D staff and the nursing staff which has been met to a large extent,” Dr. Dakshayani informed.
K.R. Hospital, which was handling nearly 2,000 outpatients, received an MRI machine from the DME and installed it recently. The same was inaugurated by the chief minister recently. This is the first time in the hospital’s history that such high-end medical equipment was sanctioned for patients.
