Sambalpur: Construction of a super specialty cardiac care hospital in Jharsuguda district has been pushed into uncertainty with the shifting of the equipment installed in the hospital to other hospitals, a report said Monday. The proposed super specialty cardiac care hospital was envisaged by former state health minister late Naba Kishore Das as part of an objective to provide quality healthcare services to Jharsuguda residents. The process for establishment of the super specialty hospital in Jharsuguda took off and private firms were roped in to run the hospital.
Notably, the construction of the hospital was taken up near the district headquarters hospital in 2018 at a plan outlay of Rs 78 crore. The deadline for completion of the project was 2020 but work got completed by March 2022. A high-level team of the Department of Health & Family Welfare visited the under-construction hospital building and assured that the new hospital will be dedicated for public use soon. Various private companies expressed their interest and came forward to run the hospital. The state government in assistance with a private company purchased various equipment and apparatus for delivery of healthcare services in the hospital.
However, the private companies withdrew from the project after the hospital was not made operational. The project has been pushed into uncertainty after equipment installed in the hospital building was seen being shifted to other hospitals. This has sparked resentment and anger among the residents as they stare at the abrupt closure of the hospital even before it becomes operational. Sources said heart patients from Jharsuguda district are dependent on the VSS Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (VIMSAR) for treatment. Realising that heart patients need emergency and immediate treatment, efforts were launched to establish the cardiac care hospital in Jharsuguda. As a result, over 100 pieces of equipment, big and small, were purchased for installation in the proposed hospital. It is alleged that supplying firms have taken back the equipment and machines as the state government did not clear their bill.
Locals also alleged costly machinery and equipment installed in the building have been shifted to VIMSAR, Burla, and Rourkela. The vacant hospital building now stands as a mute testimony of the healthcare project that never saw the light of day. The happiness and sheen that had gripped the district’s residents following the announcement of the cardiac care hospital is no more visible and the initial euphoria over the establishment of the hospital has started dying down. When contacted, CDMO Dolamani Patel said that the hospital building was constructed and equipment purchased to run the hospital.
However, the hospital failed to become operational as the agency receiving the contract failed to start work. A new tender has been floated and nine companies are participating in the bid. The selection of the agency is being done at the secretary level and the equipment has been shifted to other hospitals as they might develop snags for lying unused for a long time. The selected agency will take up the management of the hospital and the state government will install new equipment. He assured that the hospital will start soon and patients will get healthcare services from the new hospital.