Gandhi Hospital Struggles with Infrastructure Crisis amidst rising patient load

Official records, however, show only 1,500 OPD registrations, 150 IPD (Inpatient Department) admissions, and 25-30 emergency cases per day. But doctors working at the facility revealed that despite being recognized as one of the leading government tertiary-care hospitals and having a 2,200-bed capacity, the actual patient count is significantly higher. The IP registration desk remains crowded, with at least 100 people waiting at any given time.

This came after a recent surprise inspection by the state health minister shed light on a major issue—several doctors were found missing from duty during their scheduled shifts, raising concerns about accountability. Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that during a surprise visit to Gandhi Hospital, Health Minister C Damodar Raja Narasimha raised serious concerns over staff attendance and service inefficiencies. Several doctors, including professors and associate professors, were found to be absent during the visit.

The New Indian Express reports that the eight-floor inpatient building, which accommodates various AMC units, lacks essential waiting areas and seating arrangements, forcing attendants to sit or sleep on the floor. Even inside the wards, many attendants are left with no option but to eat and rest on the ground due to the absence of proper facilities. The hospital’s poor maintenance is evident in its hallways littered with waste, while outside the respiratory medicine administrative block on the eighth floor, a pile of broken hospital beds remains accumulated with stray dogs taking shelter there. Drinking water facilities remain unhygienic, with visitors using taps meant for general use, further compromising sanitation.

The medical college adjacent to the hospital faces its own set of difficulties. The National Emergency Life Support (NELS) skill centre, which was established with Union government funding, has remained locked and unused since its inauguration three years ago. Students have also raised concerns over the college canteen’s poor hygiene standards. A final-year MBBS student said, “This skill centre was inaugurated after Covid-19 for surgical training, but I have never seen it open in the last three years, except a few times for medicine lectures. If they opened it for hands-on surgical training, it would be of great help, but no one knows why it has never been put to use.”

However, denying such claims of the hospital, superintendent Ch N Rajkumari told TNIE, “We have special skill centres for all the departments and they are functioning well. Students use the training centres regularly for hands-on training.”

Another critical issue is the dysfunctional lifts, which were out of service for over a year. Although construction of new elevators began recently, the delay has caused immense inconvenience to patients, staff, and students alike.

A postgraduate microbiology student, a regular visitor to the building, said, “The lifts have been out of use for at least a year. We have to climb stairs in this four-floor building. Even senior faculty members and students with mobility issues are forced to take the stairs every day. We are hoping the new lifts will be installed soon, but looking at the pace of work, it might take another three to four months to complete.”