ROURKELA: Though the upgradation of Rourkela Government Hospital (RGH) into a government Medical College & Hospital (MCH) seems unlikely with the private Hi-Tech MCH at Rourkela already functional and the NTPC-MCH coming up in Sundargarh town, the hospital is gradually augmenting infrastructure and medical facilities.
In October 2019, Chief Minister (CM) Naveen Patnaik had announced three-fold increase in RGH’s bed strength from 128 to 400 under the ‘Mo Sarkar’ initiative. However, sources in the Health & Family Welfare (H&FW) department said first and second waves of the Covid-19 pandemic slowed the progress of the proposals.
In the meantime, however, RGH started augmenting its medical facilities and infrastructure as part of a continuous process as official increase in bed strength entails proportionate increase in manpower. Hospital sources said after introduction of CT Scan facility few months ago, the RGH will be starting dialysis facility on June 25 with six dialysis machines, adding, the blood separation unit is ready and will start after necessary approval. They said among other things, a central pathology laboratory and laparoscopy surgery would shortly be introduced, while civil work for the PSA (Pressure Swing Adsorption) Oxygen Plant has already started.
Stating that there is no ambiguity in implementing the CM’s announcement, Rourkela MLA and Sundargarh District Planning Committee Chairman Sarada Prasad Nayak said, a revised master plan for the RGH is under preparation with help of a consulting agency of Delhi. About the MCH demand, the MLA said the focus is to augment quality and advance treatment facilities besides ensuring recruitment of specialists in key medical branches including nephrology, neurology, cardiology and others.
Against sanctioned bed strength of 128, the RGH on a daily average, admits 250 new patients to Indoor Patient Department (IPD) and together with old patients the IPD caters to 450-500 patients. Similarly, the OPD sees 1,200 to 1,500 patients daily. The strength of doctors has been revised to 73, but about 50 doctors are physically available.
RGH Director Dr. Santosh Kumar Mishra said the hospital is already catering to 400 beds, and there seems to be little possibility of RGH ever getting converted into MCH in presence of the private Hi-Tech MCH at Rourkela, while at the same time the NTPC-MCH is coming up in Sundargarh town.