Mangaluru: Wenlock Hospital offers no free treatment to patients from other states, RTI reveals

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, Oct 8, 2026: Patients from Kerala and other states are allegedly not receiving free treatment at Mangaluru’s district Wenlock Hospital, according to a Deccan Herald report based on information provided by the hospital’s Public Information Officer (PIO) under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

The RTI application was filed by Sanjeeva, who sought details about treatment provided to patients from outside Karnataka. According to the report, the response from Wenlock Hospital also stated that it had not received any funds from the Kerala government under the Arogya Raksha Samithi.

The RTI response, which was later shared on social media, sparked criticism, with the hospital being accused of withholding facts and providing misleading information, the report said.

The issue of financial support from Kerala is not new. In 2018, then Health and Family Welfare Secretary Shalini Rajneesh, based on data provided by Wenlock Hospital, had written to the Kerala government seeking the hospital’s inclusion in its list of empanelled hospitals under the Karunya Benevolent Fund Scheme (KBFS), and subsequently under the Ayushman Bharat National Health Protection Scheme (AB-NHPS).

Sources told Deccan Herald that previous governments had also been seeking such financial support since 2014.

Hospital data submitted to the Karnataka government showed that of the 22,197 patients admitted to Wenlock Hospital in 2017, nearly 15% were from Kerala. The figures also indicated that 120 of the 166 maternity cases recorded that year involved patients from Kerala, while around 50% of trauma ward patients were from the neighbouring state.

According to the report, sources said there had been no positive response from the Kerala government to the request for financial support.

Hospital questions RTI applicant’s move

Wenlock Hospital superintendent and district surgeon Dr D.S. Shivaprakash, responding to the RTI information and the criticism on social media, said the applicant should have filed an appeal before the designated appellate authority instead of sharing the information online.

He also questioned the public interest behind the queries, according to the report.

Sanjeeva said he filed the RTI application after being told that the large number of patients from Kerala was making it difficult for poor patients from Puttur, Sullia, Bantwal and Moodbidri to access ICU facilities at Wenlock Hospital.

However, he said the RTI response did not clarify whether patients from Kerala were paying for their treatment at the hospital under any government order, the report said.

Wider questions over public healthcare

Activists said the issue goes beyond whether Wenlock Hospital provides free or paid treatment to patients from Kerala. They said the larger question was whether the government had developed a district-level public healthcare system capable of adequately meeting the needs of local residents.

Sanjeeva said he would file an appeal against the information provided by the PIO.

The issue has once again highlighted the significant number of patients from neighbouring Kerala treated at Wenlock Hospital and the lack of clarity over whether any corresponding financial arrangement exists between the governments of Karnataka and Kerala, according to the report.