Coimbatore: The Coimbatore Medical College Hospital is in talks with four NGOs to provide food for attenders of in-patients.The hospital issues an identity card-cum pass for attenders when a patient is admitted. Food is provided only to the patients and the attenders are forced to depend on the messes and canteens near the hospital.“This is an additional expense for many people, who get admitted from out of town. It is also inconvenient because they have to leave the hospital premises for the purpose,” hospital dean B Ashokan said. “Some NGOs have come forward to provide food for some patients and attenders. But, we decided to streamline their contribution so as to consistently benefit a section of people,” he told TOI.The meals will be served in the attenders resting room that is being constructed above the hospital canteen.The hospital has shortlisted four NGOs for the initiative. “We first want to check their experience and financial capability to see if they can consistently provide good quality food for three months, whether it is one meal, two meals or three meals,” said Ashokan. “We can’t have an NGO providing for a few weeks and then refusing to continue the initiative.”Hospital authorities plan to include all the four NGOs in the drive so that each of them will provide two meals a day for three months. “We are speaking to the NGOs to see if they want to prepare the food in the hospital or if they will be outsourcing it and distributing it to attenders,” an official said.The hospital, being the tertiary care centre, sees about 1,700 in-patients, a majority of whom are admitted for serious illnesses or deliveries. Many of the patients come from outside the district and require hospitalization, which sometimes runs into several weeks.

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