Post News Network
Puri: A trauma care centre at the district headquarters hospital here commissioned before the Nabakalebara festival has been lying unutilised since the mega event concluded in July.
The facility was set up to provide holistic treatment to accident victims under one roof. District headquarters hospital authorities, however, wash their hands of the continuing idleness of the facility by pointing at a shortage of doctors and health staff.
During Nabakalebara, the trauma care centre was equipped with a round-the-clock doctor service and modern equipment. The health department had set up the facility to provide better healthcare to accident victims during the Nabakalebara Ratha Yatra of the presiding deities of the Jagannath temple.
During the mega event, several devotees who sustained injuries in road mishaps and stampede-like situations were treated at the centre, said sources. Soon after the Rath Yatra concluded, the hospital authorities locked the centre.
At the district headquarters hospital, accident victims are currently first admitted to the outpatient department and then shifted to other departments to avail services such as X-ray and various examinations. They are thus deprived of speedy and holistic healthcare under a single roof.
Human rights activist Dillip Kumar Baral accused the hospital authorities of denying speedy and better healthcare to mishap victims by locking up the trauma care centre. “Accident victims are succumbing to their injuries due to absence of timely treatment on occasions,” he alleged.
When contacted, chief district medical officer (CDMO) Jagatkrushna Samantaray said, “We do not have sufficient doctors and health staff to run the trauma care centre. Besides, the health department has mooted a proposal for expansion of the centre.”
