Chikmagalur hospital forced to admit 2 patients per bed
FollowThe blistering summer heat coupled with the draught and an acute scarcity of drinking water has turned Chikmagalur into a land of epidemics. Citizens have been suffering from ill health for the last one month and hospitals in the district are packed to the brim.
The district hospital wards in the coffee land are so full that patients have even occupied the verandahs of hospitals.
Patients suffering from serious ailments like chikungunya, dengue, and malaria are being admitted to the district hospital of Chikmagalur every day and the hospital staff have been laying out beds on the floor for patients in need of urgent medical attention.
There are only 400 beds in all at the Chikmagalur district hospital, but at present the hospital houses more than 350 patients suffering from infectious diseases alone.
There are 109 dengue patients, 5 patients suffering from malaria, and more than 200 patients who have contracted chikungunya.
The hospital staff has, therefore, been forced to make epidemic patients share a bed and now the hospital can only admit new patients if the older ones are disease free and discharged.
“We have made all the arrangements to treat the in-patients. But since cases are more prevalent at sub-centres we have set up temporary clinics there and are treating patients 24/7. We are only admitting the more serious cases to the district hospital,” says Mallikarjunappa, District Medical Officer.
