RAIPUR: 'Advance Cardiac Institute' (ACI) in Chhattisgarh, that won a "national recognition", has 70 per cent post of cardiologists and cardiac surgeons lying vacant, not a single open heart surgery or coronary by-pass surgery performed so far and as many as 180 equipments essentially required by such sophisticated heart care centre to effectively function is yet to be acquired.
The information was revealed by the Chhattisgarh health minister Ajay Chandrakar in a written reply to the House.
And the institute was bestowed with the 'Scotch Order of Merit" award previous month. While the ACI claimed the award to be a nationally reputed one, many including those associated with the Indian Medical Association questioned how the selection process for the award was carried out.
Some senior medical professionals didn't even heard about the award. The ACI came into existence in November 2017 after the state government decided not to renew the MoU with Fortis Escorts Heart Centre in Raipur.
And within seven months, the ACI, which works under the government's biggest healthcare facilities Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Memorial hospital Raipur, has received bronze in the Scotch award category. "The information given by the health minister is shocking and exposed the fragile healthcare system for advance heart care in Raipur.
With so many posts lying vacant and the extremely important equipments not acquired, the major surgeries like open heart and coronary by-pass couldn't carried out so far in the ACI", Congress legislator Dr Renu Jogi, who is an ophthalmologist, told the Express. The purchase of necessary equipments needed for major surgical operations remains in process, the minister stated.
"The cardiology department has 7 vacant post of doctors out of the sanctioned 9. In the department of cardiac surgery out of the 11 posts as many as 7 posts are lying unfilled", the minister said in his written reply to a query raised by Dr Jogi in the ongoing monsoon session of the Assembly.There were complaints that hardly anyone attends the OPD after 1 PM at ACI while the earlier existing Fortis Escort Heart Centre functioned till late evening for the out patients.
"When Escorts Heart Centre was operating in Raipur, there was a dedicated team of 15 doctors out of which at least 5 were specialists besides around 170 paramedical staff. Quality care and medical attention remained priority and available round the clock", averred a senior cardiologist Dr Satish Suryavanshi, who was earlier associated with Escorts Heart Centre for over a decade.