Chandbali: Lack of doctors and adequate infrastructure has paralysed medical services at the Chandbali community health centre (CHC) in Bhadrak district.
Sources said apart from the residents of Chandbali block, the people of Rajkanika block in Kendrapara district also depend on this health centre for medical services. Statistics says the number of patients visiting the hospital a year is approximately one lakh.
Patients and their attendants complain that they have to wait for hours for doctors to arrive at the CHC. Without enough doctors, the problems of the patients have doubled as there is a shortage of beds too at the hospital, sources said.
Pradeep Das, a local resident said, “This hospital is unable to provide adequate services. It is always having problems with doctors, paramedics, pathology and other departments. The CHC has neither adequate doctors nor beds for the 500 patients who visit every day.”
The public has been complaining about shortage of doctors for years, but it had no effect on the authorities concerned. The promises of local political leaders too did not yield any result.
The CHC needs five doctors. The existing two doctors work under tremendous pressure. There are no doctors in departments like paediatrics, general medicine and surgery. There are three unfilled vacancies of staff nurses, two posts of sweepers and a pharmacist.
There are no doctors in the eight primary health centres of this block. A resident of this block, Satish Das, said, “The patients have left their fate to God as no doctors are available at the primary health centres.”
The Chandbali hospital was famous as the ‘Pilgrim Hospital’ during the British era. It was established in 1937 for providing health services to residents as well as devotees of Lord Jagannath in Chandabali block. Later, it was upgraded as Chandbali Community Hospital by the government.
The hospital was designed and built by British engineers. The pilgrims who came to Puri Jagannath temple from other states used the Chandbali port. So the British government built a pilgrimage home. At that time many pilgrims used to get affected by plague and cholera and the British government built this hospital for them.
PNN