More ventilators for Wenlock Hospital, better care

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, Sep 24, 2016: In what is seen as a boon in the care and  treatment of patients from poor and economically weaker families, District Wenlock Hospital got 11 ventilators, on Sept 23, Friday.

 

The total number of ventilators at ICU, the Intensive Care Unit of the government-run hospital has increased to 18, including the existing seven life-saving equipment.

Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) donated the ventilators worth Rs 1 crore under its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative, in association with Lions Club Valancia Mangalore, under 317D, at a programme organised at RAPCC Hall on the premises of the hospital.

Addressing the gathering, BEL Director (Human Resources) M L Shanmukh said, "The public sector company with an annual turnover of Rs 7,500 crore has been spending 2% of its profit on CSR activities. In the last two to three years, the company has been spending Rs 28 crore to Rs 30 crore every year towards the very initiative.

Most of the funds are spent on health and environment-related activities, with the sole aim of catering to the needs of poor and also the rural population".  Dr Shantharam Shetty, renowned orthopaedic who has lent his service to Wenlock Hospital as an honorary surgeon for three decades, emphasised on warding off the misconception among the people about ventilators.

Recalling a film dialogue of actor Amitabh Bachchan, who refers to ventilator as a killer machine, Shetty said there is a perception among the people that patients are put on ventilator only during end stage of their lives. But in reality, it is a life saving machine, he added.

Heaping praises on the authorities at the Wenlock Hospital for changing the set image of government facilities, Shetty highlighted that with the increasing patient influx, the hospital provides treatment for free including the ventilators, that would otherwise cost not less than Rs 1 lakh at a private hospital in Mangalore and Rs 5 lakh to Rs 6 lakh in Mumbai.

Centenary project  : District coordinator for Lions District 317D Navinchandra D Suvarna said, "The ventilators were provided as part of the centenary year project. Apart from the coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Karwar, the hospital also receives patients from Hassan, Chikkamagaluru and Kodagu districts, besides neighbouring Kerala state".