Waterlogged, overcrowded CMCH: Patients forced to brave rains in balconies
Patients of the Chattogram Medical College Hospital (CMCH) have been positioned in balconies due to the premises getting overcrowded and waterlogged in the heavy rain.
They were seen huddled along the corridors and balconies this morning due to insufficient space in wards.
The hospital's maternity and neonatal wards, among various others, have more patients admitted than they can hold.
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People were moved from the medicine wards to the balconies due to overcrowding. A lot of mothers have been waiting outside the maternity and neonatal ward.
Speaking to The Business Standard, Durlab Jaldas from Sandwip said his sister and her baby have been admitted in the neonatal ward for the past six days.
"When it rains, I take the patient's bed inside the premises and stand by. When the rain subsides, I bring the bed outside and wait alongside. It's hard to keep standing all the time."
Regarding the issue, Brigadier General Shamim Ahsan, director of Chattogram Medical College Hospital (CMCH), told TBS patients are staying in the balconies of some wards due to high patient pressure.
"We are trying to protect them. Conditions have been difficult in the heavy rain. Measures are being taken so that patients do not have to get drenched."
Regarding the relatives having to stand outside with no waiting room available, he said, "It is not our responsibility to see the matter of the relatives."
According to hospital authorities, more than 3,300 patients get admitted in the hospital on an average against 2,200 beds under 60 departments of the hospital.
Explaining the overcrowding situation, they said, patients from almost all districts of the Chittagong Division seek treatment at CMCH as they get ancillary support, including medicine and food from the hospital.
As a result, many patients end up on the hospital floors or the balcony.
