‘BREAKING NEWS’ that Four Senior Destitutes Evicted from Hospital! Now Hospital Issues Clarification

‘BREAKING NEWS’ that Four Senior Destitutes Evicted from Hospital! Now Hospital Issues Clarification

Mangaluru: Since morning there has been ‘BREAKING NEWS’ on TV channels, in some media both print and electronic, and also had gone viral on social media, that four senior destitutes were kicked out by the management of Kanachur Hospital & Research Centre, Derlakatte, Mangaluru on Thursday, 18 June, and that with the help of the hospital employees, the four elderly persons were dropped off near Kankanady market. Sources earlier revealed that these four elderly destitutes who were treated at the District Wenlock Hospital for a few months were shifted to this private hospital after the Wenlock hospital was upgraded to COVID-19 Hospital.

Seeing the condition of these four elderly persons left alone near the Kankanady Market bus shelter, citizens feeling pity at them, offered them food and other facilities, and also showed their anger at the hospital for the inhumane act. The names of the four persons are- Raghuram (aged 72) from Uppinangady, Ramesh ( 66) from Talapady, Srinivas ( 71) from Benjanpadavu/Farangipet, and Sundara (75) from Puttur. All four of them were showing signs of various sickness, like symptoms of heart ailment, body pain etc. Traders from the Kankanady market provided these four elders with supper last night, and Kankanady Market Auto-Rickshaw Park Vice President Basheer and his team provided them breakfast, lunch and evening tea today.

It is learnt that last night seeing all four of these destitutes lying in the cold monsoon weather near the bus shelter, good Samaritan Tufail Ahmed, who owns a chicken stall in the market, provided bedsheets which he bought from a textile shop. In the meantime, citizens have blamed the hospital for their cruel act, and also urged that the district administration and other concerned authorities take care of these four destitutes since they looked very sick and tired. This afternoon, Team Mangalorean interacted with these four elderly, who narrated their ordeal.

Sundara speaking to Team Mangalorean said, “We were treated at the Kanachur Hospital since few months, and everyone at the hospital took good care of us, from providing us medicine, food, toilet facilities and other basic necessities. All four of us are homeless, with no one to take care of us, not even family members. Our only source for health care was Wenlock hospital and Kanachur Hospital. All of a sudden the hospital staff came to us and said that we have to leave the hospital, and they gave us some money and said that they would drop us at the bus shelter in the City. We had no other option than to agree, and this is our fate now. We are helpless at the moment, being sick also, and God is our only help to rescue us from this situation”.

In the meantime, Prasanna from the Dist Revenue Dept, Chittaranjan from MCC and a social worker on the direction from DC Ms Sindhu Roopesh interacted with the four elders, arranged for an ambulance to take them to ESI hospital in the City, for further treatment. They will be at the ESI hospital for a few days until further arrangements are made.

As always there is an explanation from the other party, on behalf of Kanachur Hospital in their statement to media Col Dr K G Kiran- Medical Superintendent and Dr Rohan Monis- Chief Administrative Officer have said, “The four patients Raghuram, Srinivas, Sundara and Ramesh were admitted at Kanachur Hospital since November 2019. They had chronic health disease conditions which were closely managed by our medical teams. The lack of bystanders was a hindrance, but then the committed team of nurses and nursing aids ensured appropriate physical and medical hygiene to these patients. Medical management with physiotherapy and rehabilitation were the mainstay of the therapeutic line of treatment. Despite the COVID pandemic, these patients were not discharged and were cared for.”

“For all the months at the healthcare unit and the entire care plan with nutritious food was monetarily managed by the Kanachur Hospital Trust. These patients are from Uppinangady, Benjanapadav, Puttur and Talapady, respectively. These patients could now manage their activities of daily living and were fit for discharge. They were counselled to go to their respective homes as the travel ban had been lifted and they had consented for the same. These patients were handed over post-discharge care medications, money for travel and with their consent dropped at Kankanady Bus Station for their easy conveyance and convenience. We want to bring it to the clarity of the media and the public at large that Kanachur Hospital has put in their best effort to ensure appropriate and long term healthcare to these individuals and their treating doctors have discharged them too”.

Even though the hospital has now given their side of explanation, but citizens have raised their voices on Facebook, and other social media blaming the hospital for dropping these four elders at the bus shelter, without making any arrangements with the district administration and other concerned departments- which is their BIG fault. But for the moment, these four elderly destitutes are safe and under care at ESI Hospital, and Team Mangalorean will update on them soon. The Kanachur Hospital did their best, but now something went wrong- who is to be blamed? Whether Kanachur Hospital or the District Administration, we will have to wait and see- who was wrong and who was right?