BENGALURU: The Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology (KMIO) on Thursday inaugurated five new operation theatres, in addition to their existing eight, as part of an effort to double the capacity over the next one-and-a-half years. The latest theatres, which cost Rs 15 crore, were funded by the Infosys Foundation.
“With the opening of five new operation theatres, we will no more have waiting lists at Kidwai. Infosys also provided Rs 50 crore for the construction of a 72,000 sq feet Out Patient Department (OPD) Block, which will be inaugurated in September,” said KMIO director Dr C Ramachandra, adding that the existing OPD would be shifted here. However, they are facing a manpower shortage.
“In three months, we will start filling in the sanctioned posts of 1,296 staffers for the Kidwai in Bengaluru and 58 in Gulbarga. We will also go paperless soon. The Rs 12 crore allocated by the state government for a Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) unit will have 20 beds and we will aim to make this free of cost for the poor,” he added.
The CM’s medical relief fund is expected to cover the cost of BMT cases. A PET scan unit, multi-level parking, white topping, a 200 bed special ward, and an additional 650 beds are in the pipeline. The institute intends to increase the number of robotic surgeries it conducts every day. Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy asked the Health and Medical Education Department to file a proposal in order to fill-up the sanctioned posts of doctors in government hospitals across the state. He blamed bureaucrats for delaying the implementation of infrastructure projects.
A nine-year-old boy from Mysuru, who recovered from blood cancer (leukaemia) after getting treatment from Kidwai, spoke to the CM along with his father, Somashekar, a driver. Somashekar said, “He was diagnosed with leukaemia when he was a year-and-a-half old. He was being treated at Kidwai for the past seven-and-a-half years. We approached private hospitals first that quoted Rs 40 lakh, which I cannot afford. Even though Kidwai treated him free of cost, we still have to spend on medicines from outside and units of blood, when there is a shortage here. One unit costs Rs 1,000.”Ramachandra admitted that the shortage of blood was a perennial problem as each patient requires 70 to 80 bags of blood during the course of treatment.
CM promises protection of doctors in Karnataka
Speaking on the recent attack on doctors in West Bengal, the CM said he would strengthen that law. Director of Jayadeva Hospital Dr C N Manjunath, who was also present at the event, urged the government to send a notification regarding this law to all police stations in Karnataka.“After the recent incident, nurses, technicians and doctors are scared to work in the ICU. The police need to book such cases. Villages are more dangerous than cities in this respect,” said Manjunath.
more branches to come up
Kidwai will open another facility in Tumakuru at a cost of Rs 60 crore. The construction will start in two months. Kidwai will help the state government set up a comprehensive cancer care unit in Vijayapura, Karwar, Mysuru, Mandya and Hassan. The facility in Mandya will be completed in six months and in a year in Mysuru. The others are yet to start construction.