ROURKELA: Even as the first phase upgradation of Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP)-run Ispat General Hospital (IGH) into a super speciality hospital and medical college is likely to be completed soon, the demand for takeover of the hospital by the Centre has gained momentum.
The development comes in the wake of SAIL looking for a prospective private partner to run it as a corporate hospital.
CITU national vice-president Bishnu Mohanty said there is no justification of handing over the hospital to a private agency and make treatments costlier.
“As SAIL has initiated efforts to privatise Ispat Post-Graduate Medical Institute and Super Speciality Hospital (IPGMI-SSH), we demand the hospital be taken over by the Centre and made part of AIIMS, Bhubaneswar. This will benefit the district along with eight neighbouring districts and bordering pockets of Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh by making advanced treatment facility accessible,” he said.
The demand should be taken up with immediate effect as the first-phase project is likely to be completed by June, he added.
Echoing a similar view, AAP member Sanjay Singh said the hospital needs to be managed professionally and made autonomous under the Centre, like Government-run AIIMS or the ones functioning at Chandigarh, Lucknow and Puducherry.
“A PPP model comprising a corporate hospital may not be able to provide affordable treatment to masses. Moreover, competent super specialists may not join SAIL as its pay benefits may not attract them,” he added.