Kendrapara: In yet another example of the messy healthcare scenario in rural pockets of this district, a primary health centre (PHC) in Mahakalapara block runs with a pharmacist and a midwife in the absence of a physician, a report said.
More than 35,000 people of Ameipal, Tikhiri, Khurusia, Patalipanka, Batira, Tikarpanga and its adjoining panchayats depend on Tikhiri PHC, established in 1993, for their healthcare needs.
Every day, 50 to 60 patients visit the health centre. An MBBS doctor, an AYUSH doctor, a pharmacist, an ANM (auxiliary nurse midwife) and a class-IV employee have been sanctioned for the PHC. But, it is the pharmacist who attends to the patients here.
“For the last several years, the MBBS doctor’s post has remained vacant, while the AYUSH doctor’s post has been lying vacant for the last three years. The class-IV employee’s post has been vacant for a decade,” said pharmacist Pramod Kumar Kanungo.
There is no accommodation facility for the staff while the drinking water facility at the PHC is not disinfected, it was learnt. Apart from diabetics and malaria diagnosis, patients depend on private laboratories for all other types of diagnosis, the pharmacist said.
In the absence of a class-IV employee, an unhygienic condition prevails at the health centre, patients said.
The locals have urged the health department to appoint an MBBS doctor and an AYUSH doctor at the health centre at the earliest.
When contacted, chief district medical officer (CDMO), Baisnab Charan Sahoo, said more than 35 doctor posts have been lying vacant in the district.
The matter has been brought to the notice of the state health department several times in the past, Sahoo said, adding he would look into the demands of the locals as regards to appointing a doctor and a class-IV employee at the Tikhiri PHC. PNN
