Victoria Hospital getting a facelift after surprise inspection

Opened in 1900, Victoria Hospital is one of the oldest hospitals in Bangalore.

By Desiree Alemao

BANGALORE (Sept. 13)—The oldest hospital in Bangalore is being renovated following a surprise inspection of the hospital led by Medical Education Minister S. A. Ramdas in May.

The hospital, a hub for medical treatment for poor people in Karnataka, was inspected in May following reports of irregularities in maintenance and administration.

The resident medical officer admitted that the hospital’s problems cannot be fixed overnight.

“Everything can’t happen at once—since we are making big changes it will take time,” Dr. H.C. Chaluvanarayan said.

Wards to be shifted to new buildings

Chaluvanarayan was appointed on June 25 after the previous resident medical officer, Dr. Kantharaj, was asked to resign following the inspection.

The new resident medical officer said the hospital has made many changes to try to fulfill public expectations.  One of the major changes is moving some of the wards into empty new buildings behind the main administrative block, he said.

The hospital has 900 beds, which Chaluvanarayan said were occupied to capacity, making the shift a slow process. Other than this, the outside canteens that supplied food to the hospital and whose accounts were found to be falsified have all been shut down, and food for the patients comes from the hospital’s own canteen now.

Hospital to get Rs.2 billion

The hospital’s chief medical officer, Dr. Shivkumar, said the hospital has been trying to get the state government to increase the funding.

As of Aug. 24, the council had allocated Rs.2 billion for the expansion and improvement of the hospital’s infrastructure. Rs.1 billion will be released to the hospital in the first quarter of next year.

The hospital has also installed a high-tech water purifying system to recycle water that is later used for cleaning purposes.