Udupi, (The Hindu): K. Raghupati Bhat, MLA, said on Thursday he wanted more governmental control over the newly constructed Koosamma Shambhu Shetty Memorial Haji Abdullah District Government Maternity and Children’s Hospital.

It may be recalled that the State government had in August 2016 allowed the BRS Health and Research Institute, owned by B.R. Shetty, an NRI businessman, to construct a 200-bed maternity and children’s hospital, a 400-bed superspecialty hospital, and an urban community health centre, under the PPP mode.

These two hospitals and the centre were to come up on the four acres of land in the heart of the city, where the 70-bed Government Maternity and Children’s Hospital is located. The 200-bed hospital has now been constructed.

Speaking to presspersons after inspecting all the facilities at the newly constructed hospital, Mr. Bhat said the hospital had state-of-the-art facilities. These facilities would benefit poor patients. There should be optimum use of these modern facilities.

Since the hospital had already been constructed, it was necessary to see how it could be put to good use. “The facilities available here are extremely good, but it should reach the poor. But I want more governmental control through the District Surgeon over this newly constructed hospital,” he said.

Earlier, a team of officers of the new hospital, led by Jagadish Sharma, took Mr. Bhat, Dinakar Babu; president of the Udupi Zilla Panchayat; Sheela Shetty, vice-president of the panchayat; and Nalini P. Rao, president of the Udupi Taluk Panchayat, around the premises of the newly constructed hospital and showed the facilities available on all the four floors.

Dr. Sharma said there were five gynaecologists, three paediatricians, four duty doctors, and 57 nurses, at the new hospital. Presently 90 to 110 outpatients were daily being treated at the new hospital.

After the nod from the authorities, inpatient services would be started at the hospital. (Presently inpatient facilities are being provided at the old maternity hospital). Almost all persons provided with jobs at the hospital were locals. If the hospital started receiving more patients, the services could be extended, he said.