Govt to hand over 15 gen hosps to local bodies

Thiruvananthapuram: In a major policy decision, the state government has decided to hand over the administrative control of the 15 general hospitals to the respective municipalities. Till now only district hospitals were run by local bodies that too district panchayats.
Meanwhile, doctors have raised concern over the move citing that the local bodies may not be able to manage the hospitals since they will have to find massive fund for running the GHs unlike district hospitals.At present the general hospitals are under the directorate of health service and are managed by the hospital management committees.
The general hospitals at Neyyattinkara, Pathanamthitta, Adoor, Kottayam, Changnassery, Pala, Kanjirappally, Alappuzha, Moovattupuzha, Iringalakkuda, Malappuram, Thrissur, Kalpetta, Thalassery and Kasaragod will now be under the control of the respective municipalities.
"The hospitals which were upgraded as general hospitals from district hospitals were under the local self governments and now they have evinced interest in running the hospitals even after the upgrade," said additional chief secretary (health) Rajeev Sadanandan.
"This decision will benefit the hospitals as the local bodies will be able to provide funds for their development. Most of these hospitals were upgraded last year. Hence they need funds to develop the infrastructure facilities," said director of health services Dr R Ramesh.
Meanwhile, the doctors have made it clear that they will welcome the decision if the move ushers in development. "What we have learnt is that only the upgraded general hospitals have been brought under the municipalities. The major three general hospitals in the state are still under the control of directorate of health services," said Kerala Government Medical Officers Association (KGMOA) state president Dr V Madhu.
When the district hospitals were upgraded to general hospitals by the previous UDF government, there were complaints that neither the infrastructural facilities nor the manpower has been improved. "Hence the local bodies will now have to source fund to enhance the facilities at these hospitals. Whether the government provides help for the LSGs or they will have to find funds on their own is yet to be known. But one thing is sure, the LSGs will be overburdened with the administrative power of the GHs. It is not easy to run GHs like a district hospital," said KGMOA state secretary Dr A K Raoof.
However, the KGMOA made it clear that the three big general hospitals -Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam and Kozhikode - cannot be brought under the control of the LSGs since they will not be able to manage the hospitals.