KGH's priority list for new collector

VISAKHAPATNAM: With the new district collector N Yuvaraj taking charge from Monday, authorities at the King George Hospital (KGH) have come up with a priority list of pending works and projects at the hospital that need to be started or completed in the next couple of months.
Topping the list is the underground drainage project that has been pending for the last two years, various incomplete civil works and recruitment of personnel, among other issues that have been causing considerable inconvenience to patients, doctors and hospital staff.
KGH medical superintendent Dr M Madhusudana Babu said, "Two years ago, experts from APMSIDC (AP Medical Services Infrastructure Development Corporation) and GVMC (Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation) had estimated that around Rs 5 crore would be required for the underground drainage work in the hospital premises. GVMC promised to fund Rs 1 crore. The hospital needs this project to be completed soon, as especially during the monsoons, the situation gets worse due to waterlogging and overflowing drains."
Besides the underground drainage project, the recruitment of staff, especially staff nurses and class IV employees, need to be done urgently, say KGH officials. "We need 776 staff nurses and 196 head nurses but we have to manage with just 207 staff nurses right now. There's also a dearth of class IV staff," added the KGH superintendent.
The authorities are also planning to bring the negligence of the Andhra Pradesh Medical Services & Infrastructure Development Corporation (APMSIDC) to the attention of the new district collector. "APMSIDC has commenced civil works in different blocks and departments but after a few months, left them incomplete citing insufficient funds. This has been greatly problematic for the doctors, staff and patients of the respective departments as the half-finished and poor quality works have led to water seepage and water accumulation, resulting in part of some half-built structures caving in, ceiling falling off and so on. Therefore, we want the new collector to look into this problem pertaining to the APMSIDC," he added.
"In addition to these, by the end of this month we want to open six counters to facilitate drug distribution for patients so that they won't have to wait in long queues. This will be taken up with the help of hospital development society funds. Also in another two months, we plan to kick start the biometric attendance system for all hospital staff. We will be placing all these before the new collector to get going with these projects at the earliest," stated Dr Babu.