Berhampur: In a bid to tide over doctors’ crunch at the MKCG Medical College and Hospital here, the state government has appointed 35 Post Graduate (PG) doctors at the premier healthcare facility of south Odisha, a report said. The move comes after Orissa POST published a report highlighting how healthcare has been seriously hit at MKCG Medical College and Hospital in Berhampur due to 113 vacancies in doctors’ posts at the hospital. However, they have been given appointment for a period of one year, a communiqué released by the state Health and Family Welfare department said.
Among them, 28 doctors have passed out of MKCG, three from VIMSAR at Burla, three from SCB at Cuttack and one from Rayagada. Four of them have been appointed in the Anesthesiology department, two in Bio-Chemistry, two in Community Medicine, five in General Medicine, four in General Surgery, four in Obstetrics and Gynaecology, two in Microbiology , two in Orthopaedics, two in Ophthalmology, four in Pathology, and one each in Pharmacology, Mental Health, Radiology, Skin and VD departments.
However, this has failed to appease the locals who alleged that the state government has replaced the experienced and expert doctors with PG doctors. They questioned whether PG doctors can perform like senior and experienced doctors at the hospital. They said the state government should not only fill the vacant posts but appoint senior and experienced doctors to help improve the quality of healthcare services in the hospital. When contacted, principal-cum dean of MKCG Medical College Dr Abani Kanta Mishra said, “The state government is giving due importance to MKCG Medical College and Hospital and the fresh appointments will help in improving the healthcare services at the hospital.” Reports said the state government had transferred 13 senior and experienced doctors of various departments of MKCG elsewhere March 11.
Later, seven doctors were appointed in their place. Hardly a month of the transfer, eight doctors were again shifted elsewhere. Frequent transfer of doctors from MKCG to other hospitals had sparked resentment among the residents. Peeved over the development, the denizens staged a sit-in against the transfer of doctors to other hospitals. However, that failed to have any impact, as the state government again transferred four doctors to other hospitals May 26 and appointed two doctors in their place.
