V. Kalidasan struggling to carry his father C. Vadivel to a vehicle from the multi-speciality block of the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
A 57-year-old man from Sowripalayam struggled to take his ailing father to the multi-speciality block of the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH) on Tuesday (September 9, 2025) after he was allegedly denied free wheel-chair service.V. Kalidasan, who is suffering from a pancreatic condition, and his father C. Vadivel, 84, a diabetic foot ulcer patient, had to face the ordeal. A video of Mr. Kalidasan walking his father out from the block to an autorickshaw, as the elderly man limped due to the wounds on his feet, was widely circulated on social media. Onlookers also sympathised seeing their ordeal.“I took father to the Vascular Medicine Department on the first floor of the block around 9.45 a.m. After the consultation with the doctor, I requested a wheelchair to take my father to the ground floor. A woman contract staffer, who had a wheelchair, asked me to wait while she was attending to another patient. I waited for about 20 minutes. As my father was struggling with pain, I booked an autorickshaw and had to walk my father out of the building,” said Mr. Kalidasan.He alleged that the contract staff, who handle wheelchairs, normally demand ₹100 and above as tip for taking patients to departments, scanning centres, etc. According to him, the hospital does not have wheelchairs kept in departments or ground floors of buildings for self service by the attenders of patients.“Information on the departments of the new block are not displayed in the lounge or reception area. Poor and illiterate persons are struggling as there are no proper directions,” Mr. Kalidasan alleged.CMCH Dean M. Geethanjali told mediapersons that an inquiry was ordered into the incident and two contract staffers were suspended for five days. She added that additional wheelchairs and wheeled stretchers would be purchased soon. Published - September 10, 2025 11:12 pm IST
