PM to dedicate upgraded
100-bedded ESI hospital
in city
Bhubaneswar: The Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC), the nationwide network of hospital of the Union Ministry of Labour and Employment which caters to the healthcare needs of the employees with low income group, Sunday cautioned the erring private hospitals in Odisha against malpractices.
When pointed out by journalists about the reluctance of many private hospitals who have tie-ups with ESI to treat patients coming from the ESI hospitals, Medical Commissioner of ESI, RK Kataria, said, “We are giving the tie-up hospitals a good business. If they do not accept our patients they would be liable for punishment. We will blacklist those erring private hospitals and they would be barred for tie-ups for the next five years. They can’t do that.”
When several complaints about lack of doctors at hospital, reluctance of ESI hospitals to treat patients in many cases and failure of the biometric system at the hospitals that registers the attendance of ESI doctors, he said, “I will take stock of the all such issues and will enquire from the medical superintendent and director about that. Moreover, any aggrieved patient and their kin can call up the national toll free helpline of ESI for any issues with the ESI hospitals for relief.”
Nevertheless, Kataria also said that they have plans to expand the network of ESI hospitals in Odisha. He informed the media that the renovated ESI hospital in the city, which will be inaugurated by the Prime Minister Monday, has a new building and a number of modern medical infrastructure. The hospital was started in 1997 in a 4.5-acre plot with 50 beds.
He said that the ESI scheme in Odisha was first implemented in five centres at Cuttack, Choudwar, Rajgangpur, Barang and Brajarajanagar in 1960 covering only 2,300 industrial workers. Since then, the scheme has been extended to whole of 20 districts across the state and till date the number insured persons in Odisha is around 6.76 lakh and the number of beneficiaries is over 26 lakh.
