Mortuary remains dead at Taluk Hospital

TRIPUNITHURA: For the last two years, Taluk Headquarters Hospital which is the only government hospital in the municipality with a mortuary, has had no freezer to store the bodies. The four-storey freezer that was constructed to store the bodies in the hospital has been left unused since the cooling  system stopped functioning two years back. According to the hospital authorities, in cases where a body is to be  stored, they ask people to go to either Ernakulam General Hospital or the Medical College. This has left people of Tripunithura with no option other than to depend on other hospitals.“The situation has worsened due to the lethargy of the hospital and municipal authorities. They could have changed the situation but they are not keen on solving the issue,” a staff member at the hospital said.Hospital authorities said they are helpless as the hospital equipment unit of the DMO office is adamant on its stand that the freezer can be repaired. A hospital spokesperson said, “We brought the problem to the notice of DMO office of Hospital Equipment Repair (HER) unit. HER needs to give the  sanction for purchasing the new machine. More than eight attempts have been made but they did not work. The MLA funds of `4 lakh are  ready to purchase a new machine but for that, HER unit must sanction an ‘Irreparable Certificate’ for this.” Municipal Health Standing Committee chairman T K Suresh said the problem would be solved by replacing the dysfunctional freezer with a new one. When contacted, sources with the DMO office said a sanction has been given for the repair of the freezer.