WARANGAL: Six operation theatres at the Super Speciality Hospital in Kakatiya Medical College (KMC), Warangal, have remained closed for more than one and a half years, forcing doctors to refer many patients elsewhere for surgery. The reason for the closure appears to be comparatively trivial — damage to the air-conditioner pipeline.
The Super Speciality Hospital was built on the KMC campus under the `150 crore Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY). Of the total cost, the Union government provided `120 crore and the state government `30 crore. The facility was completed about six years ago to provide advanced treatment.
While the Super Speciality Hospital functions as a speciality wing, KMC is primarily attached to the 1,450-bed Mahatma Gandhi Memorial (MGM) Hospital for tertiary care.
Hospital sources said damage to the air-conditioning pipelines in all six operation theatres has left the theatres non-functional. As a result, no major surgeries are being conducted in the facility. Issues such as shortage of equipment and inadequate diagnostic support have also affected services.
The hospital handles around 800–900 outpatients daily and has inpatient facilities with about 250 beds. However, in the absence of functional operation theatres, doctors are referring many patients requiring procedures to other hospitals, including NIMS and Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad.
Doctors forced to use table fans in op theatres
Staff said some minor procedures are being carried out with table-stand fans placed in the operation theatres due to the lack of functioning air-conditioning systems. The issue has been reported to officials, and funds are required for repair works.
Patients from several villages in the erstwhile Warangal district visit MGM Hospital for treatment. Doctors said the Super Speciality Hospital was intended to support such patients by providing specialised services locally.
TNIE tried to contact MGM Hospital superintendent Dr P Harish Chandra Reddy, but he was not available for comment.