Media Release
Mangaluru, Jul 12: The Kasturba Medical College Hospital, Attavar held the handing-over ceremony of the NABH Certificate and Manipal Arogya Card 2022 at the MCODS lecture hall, Attavar here on July 12.
The programme began with an invocation. Medical superintendent of Kasturba Medical College Hospital, Attavar Dr John Ramapuram welcomed the gathering. The programme was inaugurated by the pro-chancellor of MAHE Manipal Dr H S Ballal by lighting the traditional lamp along with other dignitaries. NABH coordinator, professor & HOD, department of anaesthesiology, Kasturba Medical College Hospitals, Mangaluru, Dr Sumesh T Rao briefed about NABH achievement and thanked all the leadership team and the staff who worked for achieving this milestone.
After the brief introduction Dr H S Ballal - pro-chancellor, MAHE Manipal handed over the NABH certificate to Dr John Ramapuram and the team of Kasturba Medical College Hospital, Attavar.
Marketing manager of Kasturba Medical College Hospital, Mangaluru Rakesh Darshan briefed on Manipal Arogya Card - 2022. The Manipal Arogya Card was symbolically handed over to the president of the press club Pundalika Pai by the pro-vice-chancellor of MAHE (Health Sciences) Manipal, Dr Venkatraya Prabhu.
On this occasion the dean of Kasturba Medical College, Mangaluru Dr B Unnikrishnan briefed on the Covid-19 related activities compendium and said, “The institution was the forerunner in the Covid mitigation activities right from the initial case of the pandemic in creating awareness, in diagnosing, in providing vaccination and clinical care round the clock and providing anti-natal and post-natal care both in the district as well as state-level. This report is the panoramic update on all the activities done by KMC Mangaluru right from the beginning of the pandemic”.
Vice-chancellor MAHE Manipal Lt Gen (Dr) MD Venkatesh released the Covid-related activities Compendium. Addressing the gathering, Lt Gen (Dr) MD Venkatesh said, “It is a matter of great pride to me that Kasturba Medical College Hospital Attavar has gone through the quality journey of the 5th addition of NABH. I’m aware of the effort that goes into getting the NABH accreditation. It is not easy, it takes a lot of effort and creating standard operating procedures. A lot of data needs to be collected and submitted to NABH and when they [NABH] come for an assessment, we need to prove that we are committed to quality and the safety of the patients. We are committed to providing the community with the highest quality of health services. I think that the entire team of Kasturba Medical College Hospital Attavar deserves a huge round of applause for their outstanding performance. Just yesterday at Manipal, we had the handing over of the NAAC certification and today we are having the handing over of NABH certification to Kasturba Medical College Hospital Attavar. It is not a coincidence that quality is in the veins of everyone in the Manipal Group. Quality is never compromised and it is the quality, safety and perseverance of providing the highest quality of healthcare that distinguishes the Manipal Group from the rest. I congratulate Kasturba Medical College Hospital Attavar led by Dr. John Ramapuram and everyone, from the top management to the bottom, who have contributed to the humungous success of getting the NABH accreditation”.
Addressing the gathering, Dr. H S Ballal, pro-chancellor, MAHE Manipal said, “I consider myself as part of Mangalore, which I have been repeatedly telling, because I have been serving in this institution, Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore, for more than thirty years. I have spent my prime career here and I strongly feel that whatever I am today, whatever my achievements in my life so far, it is because of my long association with Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore. That is the reason why I come here so often and whenever I get the opportunity. I am very happy to be part of this NABH accreditation, which is a very prestigious one. It is a laborious procedure. It is not easy to get this accreditation, so why should you take so much trouble to get this? It is important because of quality, Manipal Group is known for quality in whatever we do – providing wisdom, healthcare, infrastructure. That is the reason Manipal means quality, Manipal and quality are synonymous and that is the reason why we are very particular about having all of these accreditations. Accreditations are important especially for hospitals because these reports and patient-care protocols that we observe are recognised in other hospitals also, here and abroad.” He congratulated all the people involved for the excellent work that will help Kasturba Medical College Hospital, Attavar to be prominently displayed in the international community as far as healthcare and laboratory facilities are concerned.
Dr H S Ballal further said, “Media is very important for us, not for getting self projections. Whatever we do, we do it in the interest of the community. We have a small gathering here, but it is very important that the public and society should know what we are doing. For example, the Arogya Card is one initiative from KMC hospitals which we give for the poor people. Healthcare today is very expensive, it’s very exorbitant. We have this initiative so that it becomes affordable to the common man, especially people below the poverty line. I always say that when a person falls sick that is a common man who is the bread winner of the family, he will be affected in two ways. During his illness, he will not be able to work and cannot earn his bread. Secondly, the cost of the stay in the hospital, which is exorbitant. The Arogya card at least will take care of the cost of the healthcare.”
While concluding Dr Ballal said, “The nursing staff is very important, nurses spend more time with the patients than the doctors. They play a very important role, I feel that the reputation of a hospital strongly depends on the nursing care that we provide.”
Regional chief operating officer, KMC Hospitals Mangaluru Saghir Siddiqui delivered the vote of thanks. Dr Gagan Bajaj from audiology department compered the programme.
Pro vice-chancellor, MAHE Mangaluru Dr Dilip G Naik, pro vice-chancellor (Health Sciences) MAHE Manipal Dr Venkatraya M Prabhu, chief operating officer teaching hospitals, MAHE Dr Anand Venugopal were the guests of honour present on the stage.
Dr Avinash Shetty – medical superintendent, KMC Manipal, C G Mutthanna - chief operating officer, MAHE, Manipal, Dr Ashita Uppoor – dean, Manipal College of Dental Sciences, Mangaluru, Dr V Surendra Shetty, associate deans, head of the departments, doctors and staff were present.