VIJAYAWADA: Soon, 50 beds will be added to the maternity ward of the old government general hospital, which currently has only 270 beds to cater to a large number of patients, including those who come from other districts.
At times, two women are made to share a single bed. Considering this, Krishna district collector B Lakshmikantham instructed the authorities to provide the additional beds.
The old and new government hospitals will also get an intercom facility, as decided in the hospital developmental committee meeting, which was held on Friday.
Apart from this, the committee roped in some voluntary organisations to provide for staff to the hospital for a few months to fight the severe staff crunch.
Recruitment for class four staff has not taken place since the formation of the new state, and due to this, as nurses and helpers retired, the staff shortage becomes more prominent.
As the State government is planning to recruit in the month of September, the hospital authorities are planning to tide over the crisis till then with the help of voluntary organisations.
Superintendent of GGH Vijayawada, S Babu Lal, said, “In the meeting that was held today, we discussed many issues related to both old and new GGH. As the season is changing and many people are getting sick, we discussed the facilities that we should be equipped with, from blood components to ward facilities.”
“To survive the staff crisis, we have asked voluntary organisations to provide staff, and they have readily agreed to it. We have also started a new initiative of having an intercom facility in both general hospitals to bridge the communication gap between the two,” the GGH superitendent said.