Kannagi Nagar residents face severe risks without local critical care hospital
Nearly 2.5 lakh residents of Chennai's southern resettlement colonies, including Kannagi Nagar, Tsunami Nagar, Ezhil Nagar, Semmancheri, and Perumbakkam, are facing severe health risks due to the lack of a local tertiary hospital equipped for critical care. The ongoing crisis was highlighted by a June 9 incident in which 33-year-old resident Mercy Stephen lost her fetus after facing delayed emergency medical attention and a 20-kilometre journey to a hospital in central Chennai.
On June 9, Stephen, who was pregnant, fell critically ill. Because the local Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC)-run Urban Community Health Centre (UCHC) in Kannagi Nagar was unable to handle the emergency, she had to be taken to Gosha Hospital, located about 20 kilometres away. While Stephen survived after extensive efforts by the medical team, her fetus did not. Her family and neighbours staged protests following the incident, alleging that no doctor was available at the local health centre to provide timely care.
The tragedy has caused residents to lose trust in the Kannagi Nagar UCHC. The facility, which previously handled 25 to 30 deliveries a month, recorded only six deliveries last month—five before the June 9 incident and only one after. Residents noted that a similar medical emergency occurred about a year prior, and pointed out that an ambulance that used to be stationed outside the community health centre is no longer available.
To receive critical care, residents from these southern resettlement colonies must travel to distant facilities such as the Government Royapettah Hospital, Gosha Hospital, or Omandurar Government Hospital. This journey takes roughly an hour through congested roads. Maria Joseph, Stephen's mother-in-law, stated that hospital staff informed them that the situation would have been less critical had they arrived just 15 minutes earlier.
Although the Sholinganallur Peripheral Hospital was inaugurated in February to ease the burden, it remains under-equipped. Only 160 of its 262 beds are currently usable due to unfinished internal infrastructure. The hospital currently operates with only 15 doctors and 15 nurses. While it has various specialty departments, it only has two sanctioned doctors per specialty instead of the five required to run emergency services effectively. Consequently, the facility only treats stable patients and refers all emergency cases to distant tertiary hospitals.
Corporation Commissioner GS Sameeran acknowledged that the healthcare facilities in the area are grossly inadequate and stated that the region needs a tertiary care or district hospital. Meanwhile, the Director of Medical Education and Research, Dr. R. Suganthy Rajakumar, stated they have written to the Chennai Corporation regarding recruitment at the Sholinganallur facility. A senior corporation official noted they received the communication via WhatsApp and will look into the issue.
