KOCHI: With Government Medical College Hospital (MCH), Kalamassery, being converted into a Covid hospital and two major departments of Ernakulam General hospital closed down after a patient tested positive for Covid-19, non-Covid patients who cannot afford treatment in private hospitals have been left in the lurch.
While there have been demands to make treatment facilities available for such patients at the MCH, the authorities are yet to take any action.“Hundreds of patients rely on the MCH and the General Hospital for treatment. With the hospitals shutting their doors on such patients, where will they go?” asked Dr Sanil Kumar, member of Justice Krishna Iyer Movement who had written to the chief minister seeking to reopen the MCH for non-Covid patients too.
The cardiac wing and general medicine department of the General Hospital were shut down recently after Covid was confirmed in a patient. Though District Collector S Suhas promised necessary arrangements to restart the department, nothing has been done yet, said Sanil.
“An angiogram in a private hospital costs `2 lakh to `2.5 lakh at least. How can poor patients afford this?” he wondered. Recently, the Kerala Government Medical College Teachers Association had also demanded making facilities available for non-Covid patients at the MCH.
“In these tough times, all patients, including non-Covid ones, should be considered. We have MCHs and general hospitals to serve patients who cannot afford treatment at private hospitals,” said a doctor employed with a private hospital in Kochi, who did not want to be named.