Digital X-Ray Equipment Commissioned At CMCH
Health Minister M.R.K. Panneerselvam (right) commissions a digital X-Ray equipment at the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital on Monday. Mayor R. Venkatachalam (second right), Rural Industries Minister Pongalur N. Palanisamy (third right) and Health Secretary V.K. Subburaj (left) are in the picture. Health Minister M.R.K. Panneerselvam assured the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH) on Monday that the State Government would make efforts to meet the hospital’s long-pending demand for kidney transplantation and heart surgery centres. With the hospital approaching its centenary year, a centenary committee to plan and implement various activities would be announced soon, he said. Mr. Panneerselvam was responding to an appeal from Rural Industries Minister Pongalur N. Palanisamy for the renal and cardiac wings. Mr. Palanisamy said even District Collector V. Palanikumar requested Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi here on Monday morning for steps to establish these wings.
Mr. Palanisamy said that out of the nearly 6,000 out-patients and more than 1,500 in-patients at the hospital, many were found to have defects in the heart. Assistance was provided from the MLA’s constituency development fund to enable people to undergo surgery at private hospitals. But, that was not enough now. Earlier, private hospitals performed heart surgery for Rs.60,000. Now, the cost had gone up. Therefore, it was important that the CMCH had a heart surgery centre to provide free service to poor patients.
Assuring the Health Minister that he would closely pursue these schemes at this end in his capacity as the representative of the people of Coimbatore in the ministry, Mr. Palanisamy said: “Our objective is to make the CMCH as good as any private hospital, once the facilities asked for are provided”. The Minister made this pledge at the launch of emergency ambulatory services and commissioning of a Rs.2 crore magnetic resonance imaging equipment and a Rs.1 crore digital x-ray equipment at the CMCH. The x-ray was purchased with contributions from Mr. Palanisamy’s constituency development fund.
Health Secretary V.K. Subburaj said works would begin in seven to eight months to improve the condition of the Coimbatore Medical College hostel buildings. “We inspected the hostels. We cannot be proud of their condition. There is lack of hygiene. The Health Minister has assured us of works to improving the condition,” he said. Listing vehicle population and the number of fatal and non-fatal accidents in the district, the Collector said the ambulances would be of great help in saving lives. The Collector said that the district administration had sought Rs.2 crore from the State Government for road safety measures.
The Government had the task of not only ensuring the rights of the people but also protecting their lives. That was why it provided modern facilities to hospitals, as part of providing quality medical care to the people. Therefore, doctors and paramedical staff should also provide the best of services to patients, he said. Mayor R. Venkatachalam said the Coimbatore Corporation was taking steps to provide infrastructure facilities to the CMCH. “South Zone Chairman P. Pynthamil has placed many demands in the Council, stressing the need for these facilities,” he said.
Earlier, Mr. Palanisamy lamented that despite allotting Rs.20 lakh for drainage works at the hospital, work had not been taken up for nearly seven months. The Mayor appealed to the State Government to establish a well-equipped Government Hospital in the western suburbs of the city because it was difficult to rush people the CMCH from places far from the city. Dean (in-charge) of the CMCH V. Kumaran said the new equipment would be of immense help to the poor who could not afford the huge costs of modern facilities in the private healthcare sector.
