Perumbavoor ESI Hospital, a refuge for thousands of workers, is in 'critical care'

Perumbavoor: The ESI Hospital at Perumbavoor in Ernakulam district is facing a serious shortage of doctors, nurses and medicines, which has crippled its functioning. Worsening the situation is the dilapidated hospital building, opened in 1986, which is on the verge of collapse. Currently, there are five doctors and 20 nurses at the hospital, located in the Municipal Library ward, and two of the doctors are working on deputation.

Thousands of workers employed by the hundreds of industrial units operating in Perumbavoor area depend on the ESI hospital. Additionally, employees from even Neriyamangalam in Idukki district reach the hospital as work on the proposed ESI hospital at Kattappana is yet to start. However, these patients receive treatment only for minor diseases such as fever, cold, cough and headache at Perumbavoor, and serious cases are referred to the ESI hospital at Pathalam.

Demands have been raised to improve the facilities at the Perumbavoor ESI Hospital for several years now. The 40-year-old building, opened by the then Labour Minister Kadavoor Sivadasan in 1986, when P P Thankachan was the MLA of Perumbavoor, is now leaking everywhere.

Located beside a narrow on a plot measuring 2.5 acres in area, the hospital should be urgently shifted to a larger plot, said the local residents. The premises of Travancore Rayons and Periyar Valley Recreation Club were suggested for the purpose. Steps were also taken to purchase other properties. But when these measures failed to proceed, efforts to obtain land from private individuals were made, which also did not yield the desired results.