Wenlock Hospital, with assistance from KMC Hospital, has officially begun operations of its newly established cath lab, located in the cellar of the hospital’s Medicine Block. The facility was inaugurated by Health and Family Welfare and Dakshina Kannada in-charge Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao.
KMC contributed ₹5 crore towards setting up the lab and has also deployed two cardiologists to support operations. Minister Rao announced that the government will provide medicines, consumables, and cover other operational costs of the lab.
Under the Ayushman Bharat Arogya Karnataka (AB-ArK) Scheme, the charges for Above Poverty Line (APL) patients have been fixed at ₹42,000 for implanting one stent and ₹59,500 for two stents, including drug-eluting stents. Procedures will be provided free of cost to Below Poverty Line (BPL) patients, except angiograms, for which they will pay ₹7,000. “The government is yet to decide making angiogram free for BPL patients under AB-ArK,” the Minister said.
In addition, Mr. Rao inaugurated the dialysis centre equipped with 24 haemodialysis machines on the Medicine Block’s fourth floor. Each machine can perform three dialysis cycles, operated by personnel from Nephro Plus, supported by specialists from KMC.
Highlighting the government’s dialysis infrastructure, the Minister noted that Mangaluru taluk now has 94 dialysis machines across government healthcare facilities. He added that donors have pledged to provide additional machines at Moodbidri and Mulky.
According to a district health official, 746 patients are currently receiving haemodialysis in government centres across Dakshina Kannada. Minister Rao also stated, “An order was recently issued to perform peritoneal dialysis for 10 needy patients in each district. The government will bear the cost of the procedure done to children and other needy patients at their homes.”