Andhra Pradesh - Visakhapatnam

Focus on sanitation: new KGH chief

— Photo: C. V. Subrahmanyam

Change of guard: Dr. T. Raviraju (centre), who is promoted to the post of Additional Director of Medical Education, with Dr. G. Bhagya Rao and Dr. M.V.R.J. Somayajulu (right), Principal of Andhra Medical College and new Superintendent of the KGH , in Viaskhapatnam on Wednesday.

VISAKHAPATNAM: Dr. M.V.R.J. Somayajulu and Dr. G. Bhagya Rao took charge as Superintendent of King George Hospital and Principal of Andhra Medical College respectively here on Wednesday.

They took charge from Superintendent of KGH and Principal in-charge of AMC T. Raviraju, who has been promoted to the post of Additional Director of Medical Education (Hyderabad).

Dr. Bhagya Rao who is Head of Department of Psychiatry and held the post of Superintendent of Government Hospital for Mental Care here, is the first psychiatrist to become Principal of AMC and the second in the State to attain such a top job after Dr. Raghurami Reddy of Hyderabad who became Superintendent of Osmania General Hospital about a decade ago.

Dr. Somayajulu, who studied MBBS and MD (general medicine) in AMC and worked in KGH since then and was Deputy Superintendent till now, said his priority was improving the sanitation in the hospital which needed additional manpower. He would also concentrate on providing better patient care and felt that the communication gap between the doctors and patients was the reason for it not reaching the optimum level.

He would pursue with the Government the Rs.11-crore proposal for adding two floors to the two-floor super specialities building that was coming up on the KGH premises. All the super speciality wings of nephrology, neurology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, plastic surgery, neurosurgery and paediatric surgery could be accommodated in the new building only if it has four floors, he said.

He would also try to provide better security to the hospital and its patients by engaging private security guards for which a proposal was already sent to the Government, Dr. Somayajulu said.

Dr. Bhagya Rao said he would try to produce doctors with social responsibility and improve the status and standards of AMC which was one of the oldest and prestigious medical colleges of the country.

“There are many senior and talented professors here and this advantage must be utilised to make AMC one of the top medical colleges of the country”.

The Psychiatry Department in KGH would be upgraded with the help of Rs.47 lakhs sanctioned under the National Mental Health Programme. While a full-fledge Mental Care Hospital is functioning the city, twice a week OP is being held at the KGH and this facility would be improved by upgrading it into a ward. A building would also be constructed for the ward.

The Central Government decided to upgrade the psychiatry care facilities in general hospitals so that minor problems, like anxiety, school phobia, alcoholism, etc. could be treated in the general hospital as the patients would not like the stigma of being treated in a mental care hospital attached to them. This would also help the patients who were being referred to the mental care hospital and where they had to be in-patients for some days, to determine if they were mentally ill, Dr. Bhagya Rao explained.

Dr. Bhagya Rao did his MBBS in the Kurnool Medical College and post-graduation in CMC, Vellore.

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