Health Minister inaugurates Oottupura at GH

KOCHI: The dietary kitchen (Oottupura), the first-of-its kind in the country aimed at providing balanced and nutritional food free of cost to its inmates, was inaugurated at the Ernakulam General Hospital on Wednesday. Inaugurating the kitchen, Health Minister Adoor Prakash said the Kannur General Hospital had received immense support from many quarters.  He also blamed the reporters for exaggerating certain silly things in government hospitals, which according to him only helped the private hospitals. Union Minister of State for Food and Agriculture K V Thomas who inaugurated the renovated Ortho ward said that there should be a united effort for upgrading the General Hospital to a Medical College. Stating that the only hurdle for this was the lack of land, he said the General Hospital needed 2. 5 acre more for upgrading it to the level of a Medical College.  Now, the hospital had 7. 5 acre of land, he said. Social Welfare Minister M K Muneer inaugurated the operation theatre in the Ophthalmology department. He said the Social Welfare Department would provide Rs 5 lakh for the newly-built dietary kitchen. Muneer said that the first cochlear implantation in children below the age of three would be done in December.