Karnal’s British-era hospital needs care

Parveen Arora

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Months before the British shifted the capital from Calcutta to Delhi, Major CH Buck I.A, the then Deputy Commissioner of Karnal, had laid the foundation stone of the King Edward Memorial Hospital in Karnal, then part of the Punjab province, on April 17, 1911, for providing health facilities to local people.

Later another King Edward Memorial Hospital was established in Mumbai in 1926, which is still functional. The colonial architecture is still predominately visible on the walls and rooms of one of the portions of the existing Civil Hospital. The authorities are trying to preserve this building by regular maintenance. The first Prime Minister of Pakistan, Liyakat Ali, who was from Karnal, along with other nawabs had also contributed to building this hospital. 

With the passage of time, the hospital had witnessed several changes. After Independence, this hospital was converted to Civil Hospital. Since it was the lone hospital in the region, people from several districts like Panipat, Jind, Kaithal and Kurukshetra and also Western Uttar Pradesh used to come here for treatment. The present paediatric OPD was the office of Civil Surgeon while the immunisation room was the casualty ward. The OPD section was operated from a hall with a different partition. 

“I joined the hospital as medical officer in 1965. It had a statue of King Edward in the hall, where the OPD was run. There was a waiting hall outside the OPD and a dispensary and a laboratory near it,” says Dr GD Sharma, a retired doctor from the Civil Hospital.

In the 1980s, residents of the city with their own contributions gave a facelift to the hospital and constructed the existing OPD block. “The present building was constructed with the help of contributions from local people. A committee led by former MP Mahinder Singh Lather contributed funds and the existing OPD building was constructed,” he adds.

“I joined the hospital as Deputy CMO (Health) in 1974. There was a fabulous park with a fountain at the place of the existing OPD building. Several big shady trees were there that enhanced the beauty of the hospital,” says Dr MS Chaudhary, who retired as Deputy CMO from the hospital.

There was a unique kind of spirit and enthusiasm among doctors to save lives of people. There were six doctors in the casualty ward, but all worked with a team spirit. “I came to Karnal in 1969 and joined Dyal Singh College. I always admired the architecture of this hospital. There was no private hospital in its vicinity. The dedicated staff at the hospital did not allow anyone to go to other hospital in the state,” says 78-year-old Prof IJ Bharti. There were only 10 rooms in the hospital at that time and people received the best treatment.

Former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda laid the foundation stone of Kalpana Chawla Government Medical College and Hospital (KCGMCH) in November 2012 to replace the Civil Hospital. With this step, Karnal became the only district in the state without a Civil Hospital. Local residents raised the issue at several platforms. 

On April 13, 2017, incumbent Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar inaugurated the OPD and hospital buildings of the KCGMCH, after which it was shifted to a new building. 

Keeping in mind the demand of residents, the Chief Minister announced to re-start the Civil Hospital from the old building. After five years in December 2017, the Civil Hospital again started functioning in Karnal. The smooth functioning of the hospital is still a challenge for the authorities. And a shortage of doctors and paramedical staff is making it a difficult task. Even after four months of restarting of this century-old hospital, there is no indoor facility for patients. Operating theatres and the labour room are non-functional, while the emergency trauma centre is still to start functioning. The building has also not been renovated so far. However, the OPD of the hospital is witnessing more footfalls every day that at present is around 800.

The state government should give attention to this century-old hospital and start the indoor facility as well as emergency services, says Sukhram Bedi, a Karnal city resident.

Karnal city residents had struggled for five years to get the Civil Hospital restarted. The government should respect their sentiments and provide all basic medical facilities in the hospital, says Raj Kumar, another resident.

“We are facing a shortage of doctors and specialists, besides paramedical and sanitation staff. As a result, the indoor, emergency and labour room services could not be started properly,” says Dr Piyush Sharma, Principal Medical Officer (PMO).

Deputy Commissioner Aditya Dahiya says there is some civil work being executed by the Public Works Department (B&R) that is still under progress. “I have instructed the officials concerned to complete it at the earliest. Also, the PMO has presented a list of staff requirement, which is being resolved at the headquarters level,” he says.

Water tanks stands tall

The water tanks that were installed on the hospital premises in 1912 still stands tall, narrating the quality of work of the British era. The authorities of Kalpana Chawla Government Medical College (KCGMCH) have decided to preserve these tanks. “Keeping in mind its quality as well as historical value, we have decided to preserve the water tanks so that people could see these,” says Dr Surinder Kashyap, Director, KCGMCH.

A similar tank still exists near the Karnal railway station. It was erected in 1909 and the Railways maintains it.