Dr Janardan Pujari Maternity Care Centre, which was the lifeline for poor and downtrodden not long back, has been virtually closed down since March 31. The major cause of closure is assigned to absence of doctors.
Established in 1944 and named after renowned social worker and physician Dr Janardan Pujari, the hospital is run by the Sambalpur Municipality.
Pregnant women of the town were dependent on the hospital as lady doctors were available to take care of them. “On an average, 10 pregnant women used to give birth at the hospital daily and patients from across the district and neighbouring Jharsuguda district availed the services. But apathetic attitude of Municipality over the years has taken its toll on the hospital,” said an employee of the hospital.
The problem cropped up as the doctors were transferred from the hospital regularly with no substitute replacing them. The closure became imminent after the only doctor Dr Vyasadeb Hota was promoted and transferred.
Executive Officer of Sambalpur Municipality Aniruddha Padhan said the State Government has been apprised of the situation and requested to appoint doctors immediately. He said the doctor at Khetrajpur Municipality Dispensary has been given the additional charge of the maternity care centre.
Officially, the hospital has been allocated one gynaecologist, one paediatrician and one assistant surgeon. Presently, the hospital has three staff nurses, an Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM), a pharmacist besides a sweeper and six attendants.
Having no doctor, they have to turn back the patients, mostly expectant mothers.
There are 24 beds in the general ward and five delivery cabins in the hospital and all are lying vacant.