Doctors Heart
By Siri Hoovinahole
As her tenure ends, my heart feels full & we bid goodbye to Wenlock.
Since when did State government start basing their decisions on fake viral Whatsapp videos and audios. Are you trying to tell me that the same forwards which tell me ‘putting garlic in your ears can cure Covid19’ is what the ministry believes in?
As her daughter, I’m glad that my mother is not constantly working with Covid19 patients in her 50s, but the way this happened has made me question lot of principles I strongly believe in. Is it really worth working selflessly for people? My sister and I often call Wenlock our other sibling who gets her full attention. In the past 6 and half years, everytime it rained heavily, she worried about leaks in the hospital. Be it Ganesh chaturthi or Ayudh pooja, we celebrated it both at home and Wenlock. I hardly saw her at home past few days after Corona hit Mangalore. And god knows the number of meals she has missed.Under her administration, she raised a state of art multispeciality block which will now be used to treat Covid patient. All administrators face criticism by their staff, more so if they are strict, but holding personal grudges is not acceptable.
Wenlock has been an intergral part of my life, more so since I was posted as an UG and an internee there and it is in every sense a ‘temple of learning’. I’m not telling you that it is the best hospital there is,but it is one of the best Government hospitals of the state. Lots of poor people from various districts and neighbouring states are treated for free here. There are dedicated professors and doctors who work for this hospital.
It’s a sad state that we need to prove the work she has done, but there are times when only you and your family has to stand up for you. And when she tells me this is what a lot of Government officials face, it discourages us young people to join the service. One might wonder why we are so attached to her work, that is because we as doctor’s kids sacrifice our parents to this profession, the least we can expect is regards for their work.
Wenlock will always be close to heart, though it ended with lots of political pressure and propaganda and I got to witness the dirty side of politics, where the bias is based on the region you come from, the language you speak and they don’t even hesitate to give you death threats
As a doctor, it’s my sincere request to everyone,
a) Don’t believe all the forwards you get, check the source. And if you are spreading one, atleast bother to make sure it’s legitimate. Don’t use it for personal attacks.
b) Can we please keep politics aside from healthcare for time being? If not, then Covid19 will consume our country.
For now we need to forget religion, caste, creed, language, state and nationality and we need to fight this disease as one human race.
Adios Wenlock!
Connected Reading
From The New Indian Express
Mysuru Crosses hurdles to keep Covid under lid
MYSURU: From a yet-to-be-functional hospital with no employees to days without an X-ray machine and struggling with just a handful of PPE kits, Mysuru is now emerging as a crown jewel of the state in fighting Covid-19. The district, which was in the danger of falling into an uncontrollable spiral with over 90 reported cases at one time, has now managed to contain it to just 21 active cases with zero morality, which is a rarity in the country. But it was a long struggle for frontline healthcare workers.
“The initial days were very hectic as the administration decided to turn the new district hospital into a Covid facility. We had to source even beds and cots, and the electric points too had not been installed fully,” said KR Hospital Resident Medical Officer Dr MS Rajesh Kumar, who set up the hospital from the scratch. “There were days when we had just 40 PPE kits. There was a day when the lone X-ray machine gave up but was replaced immediately,” he said. Dr HR Rajeshwari Devi, District Surgeon, who was posted to Mysuru from Mangaluru Wenlock Hospital, said they anticipated a climb in numbers because of clusters like Nanjangud and Tablighis.
“We got the hospital ready to handle the crisis, including setting up of the ICU and creating infrastructure to handle organ failure and SARI cases,” she said. But the ultimate satisfaction came when patients recovered. “We had to deal with a scientist from Jubliant Pharma Company (in Nanjangud which has been at the centre of a spurt in cases), who was positive. He was emotionally devastated as he also had SARI issues. But we managed to save him from his health and psychological condition,” she said.
Dr Madhu Kumar, a senior resident at the hospital, has been staying at the hospital for the last month. “My four-year-old daughter and my family are in Mysuru, but I am staying away from them. I have been longing to hold my child,” he said. Pushpalatha, a senior nurse, said, “It was during my posting here that we got the first patient in ICU. Since it was a new facility and we all had to work wearing PPEs, it was difficult to attend to patients. Our safety goggles fogged up and it was difficult to even attach the IV.”
Much work was also done by the surveillance team under District Surveillance Officer Dr T Shivaprasad, who was monitoring Mysuru and Nanjangud. Dr Amrutha Kumari at the testing lab, VRDL, who ramped up the capacity from 250 to over 450, Dr Chidambara, who managed containment zones, District Health Officer Dr R Venkatesh, and MMC&RI Dean Dr CP Nanjaraj all played critical roles.
