Udupi: Health Minister Aravanid Limbavali lays foundation stone for Govt Hospital Building

By Snehalatha, Udupi
Bellevision Media Network

Udupi, 23 August 2012: Minister for health and family welfare Arvind Limbavalli on Thursday August 23 laid the foundation stone for the new building of district government hospital here at 10:30 am.

 
He said that every district hospital should have a minimum of 250 beds, and added, "It is very unfortunate that it has taken such a long time for the same to be implemented in Udupi."

 

 

 

"Now the hospital consists of 150 to 200 beds in all, which should definitely be improved upon," he said.

 
Speaking to mediapersons, he said that on Wednesday August 22, he visited one of the hospitals where three or four patients with suspected rat fever had been admitted. "Of them, only one was tested positive," he said.

 
"Taking into account the rise in rat fever cases and the climatic conditions from July to September in the past 2 years, strong measures have been taken to control the spread of diseases," Limbavalli added.

 
"Officials have visited several houses, blood tests are being done and patients are being provided with maximum treatment," he further said.

 
As many as 60 cases of rat fever have been reported in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts.

 
He appealed to the public not to ignore fever. "People are advised to go for a complete checkup from specialist doctors, in government or private hospitals," he said.

 
Every district has its own rescue unit, which is available in Udupi too. The urban department has also collaborated to take measures against all types of fever by cleaning the environment, he said.

 
"People think government hospitals are only for the poor. This trend should change, and this possible only by improving medical facilities at the hospitals," he added.

 
His top priority after reaching Bangalore will be getting funds sanctioned for the hospital building and arranging for the funds at the earliest, he said.

 

He also inaugurated free ambulance service at Prasad Netralaya. Raghupati Bhat MLA, Kiran Kumar, CMC president, M T Reju, DC, Prabhakar Sharma, ZP CEO, Devdas Hebbar (taluk panchayat president) and Ravindra Nayak were present.