HUBBALLI: If you are planning to visit Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) Hospital for a health check-up as an outpatient , then be equipped with a lunch box and loads of patience.It takes anywhere between 1-2 hours to get your 'Out-Patient Department' (OPD) registration card, and one more hour to get your turn for consultation. It may take another hour to get the prescribed medicines. In short, you may have to spend a minimum of 4-5 hours and lots of energy to get treatment at the outpatient wing of the hospital.KIMS, considered as a lifeline for the people of north Karnataka, caters to patients from nine to districts in the region. According to sources in KIMS, around 1,000-1,200 patients visit the OPD daily, and a majority of them are from villages and districts surrounding the twin-cities.Doctors attribute the rush of patients to lack of basic health facilities in village and taluk-level hospitals. Doctors at primary health centres in villages refer patients to KIMS - instead of hospitals in taluks and the respective district headquarters - if they do not recover in a stipulated time.Last year, around 6 lakh patients availed treatment at the hospital, KIMS hospital superintendent Dr Ramalingappa Antartani told TOI, adding that the figure this year is expected to rise "as we treat thousands at OPD every day"."The hospital is making efforts to reduce the consultation time of each patient. As of now, six counters are working to issue OPD cards. Additional counters will be opened in the next few days. Each department is manned by 17 staff, including interns, postgraduate students and doctors. KIMS is mulling over enhancing their number," he added.Lakshmi Kalal, a resident of Old Hubballi, who came to the hospital along with her two mentally challenged sons on Monday, stood in the queue for almost 90 minutes to get an OPD card. Later, it took her almost an hour to consult a doctor at the psychiatry department. Sharing her agony with TOI, she demanded that the hospital authorities make the process hassle-free and fast.

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