KOZHIKODE: Even after one year of opening up its gate for outpatients, the government leprosy hospital, Chevayur, which has been rechristened the government dermatology hospital, lacks basic facilities. The outpatient department is now working in a dilapidated inpatient block, which used to admit leprosy patients.
The wards, the inmates’ quarters and everything else inside the hospital compound are more than 100 years old.
The government has only approved the construction of a single-storeyed building for a new inpatient block, which the hospital authorities aim to use as the new OP block.
The construction has just begun. All other proposals, submitted as part of a project plan in 2013 remain on paper.
“The government has approved the construction of a single-storeyed building and the works have started. We had asked for a two-storeyed building. Other proposals are yet to be approved,” Dr. P. Prathiba, superintendent, told Deccan Chronicle.
The hospital now caters to around 100 outpatients on a daily basis. “Now people with all types of skin diseases are coming to us. We are running the OP from the old inpatient block since we do not have admissions here anymore.Now leprosy cases do not need admission and they only collect monthly medicines from us,” Dr Prathiba said.
The hospital now has two dermatologists on duty and there is a vacancy of one more. The hospital has a huge potential for development as it has a vast expanse of land available and is centrally located.
However, sources said the hospital compound has lost a considerable amount of its land to other government departments and also for road widening. The hospital authorities have now approached the Kozhikode district collectorate to conduct a resurvey to assess the actual land area available for the hospital.
“We do not know the actual extent of land available to the hospital as there were several acquisitions from the hospital compound. We have requested for a resurvey and only after that we will know the actual land available,” Dr. Prathiba said.
