Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)

Mangaluru, Jun 5: The outpatient department (OPD) of the government Wenlock hospital that has been converted into COVID-19 hospital, will become functional within three to four days from now.

Due to the increased inflow of coronavirus positive patients, the hospital had been devoted fully for the treatment of this pandemic, and the inpatients were shifted to private hospitals in the city on March 26. Since then, no other patients have been attended to at this hospital and this had given rise to problems as the patients were unable to get themselves treated at the government hospital. The district administration has now decided to open the hospital for other services too in phases.

Wenlock hospital (file photo)

The outpatient department will be opened in another building of Wenlock hospital within three to four days. In the initial days, inpatients will not be allowed. In phases, other facilities will be extended one by one, sources said.

It is said that patients referred from Wenlock to private hospitals are facing certain problems including getting free services. Insurance facility available in Wenlock is not available in private hospitals, it is said. After many patients came up with problems, MLA U T Khader had drawn the attention of the government to this problem.

Wenlock hospital, credited to be the best government hospital in the state, gets about 2,000 outpatients per day in normal days. People from not only Dakshina Kannada and Udupi but also from Kodagu, Shivamogga, Davanagere and Kerala visit this hospital to get treatment for various ailments.

District-in-charge minister Kota Srinivas Poojary, reacting to the above, said that every private hospital has set up helpdesk to assist patients recommended by Wenlock hospital. A nodal officer has been appointed there and patients, in case of any complications, can contact him, he added.