Puri: Highlighting the creaking healthcare at District Headquarters Hospital (DHH), Infectious Disease Hospital (IDH) and the Gopabandhu Ayurveda Mahavidyalaya in the Holy City, a social outfit Tuesday submitted a memorandum to Health Minister Pratap Jena seeking the latter’s intervention to set things right.
Jena was here to attend a review meet when Sachetan Nagrik Mancha convenor Prasanna Kumar Das handed over the memorandum pointing out the apathy at the three state-run healthcare facilities here.
Several hundred inhabitants of the Holy City depend on the three healthcare facilities. However, an acute crunch of doctors and paramedics has been ailing them. Niramaya Yojana, a free medicine distribution scheme of the state government, has failed to achieve its objective here. “Despite repeated reminders, the doctors here prescribe medicines which are unavailable at the Niramaya outlets. Left with no option, poor patients are forced to buy medicines from private stores near the hospitals at exorbitant prices,” the memorandum said. The Chief District Medical Officer (CDMO) is yet to have a ground zero report as most of the time he prefers to remain out of the district headquarters, it alleged.
Das also said the provisions to ensure hygienic and quality food to patients here are limited to papers only. The stinking toilet also gives a nightmarish experience to the patients. The sole water purifier at the maternity care hospital of DHH has been lying defunct for the past several months. “Due to lack of timely maintenance, the elevator remains out of order most of the time. As a result, expectants have to take stairways to reach the seventh floor,” the petition said. The mortuary is no better, he said.
The situation is no different at the IDH. The hospital wears a deserted look with doctors and other paramedics leaving the facility in the afternoon. Non-availability of a mortuary has made the premises hellish with unidentified bodies lying unclaimed in the veranda for several days.
The Gopabandhu Ayurveda Mahavidyalaya has been functioning from a dilapidated structure. “Plaster falling from the soaked ceiling of administrative room, hostel and medical wards is a common sight here. The hostel rooms often get inundated in monsoon,” the petition said. “Instead of making temporary arrangement of doctors during Rath Yatra every year, the state government should take measures to fill up the vacant positions of doctors and paramedics here,” Das urged the Health Department.
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