DHH expansion faces shortage of docs, land
JAGATSINGHPUR: The State government decision to upgrade bed strength of the district headquarters hospital (DHH) from 126 to 300 on Monday may have brought cheer to locals in Jagatsinghpur, but the feasibility seems difficult given the lack of space for expansion and shortage of doctors in the district. The DHH currently has 126 beds in various wards like medicine, surgery, gynaecology, TB and paediatrics. However, there is no land earmarked closeby for further expansion of the hospital.
Sources said various expansion projects of the DHH have been gathering dust due to lack of land. Even the 100-bed Mother and Child Health (MCH) building at the DHH, for which the government had allocated Rs 17 crore in 2014, is still incomplete and picked up pace only seven years later after an irrigation land was allotted for the purpose by Collector Sangram Keshari Mohapatra last year. The DHH also does not even have an Outpatient Department (OPD) and Casualty building of its own despite having other infrastructure, due to space constraints.
Absence of specialist doctors is yet another factor. Contacted, chief district medical officer Bijaya Panda said the health department has asked the government to provide land for the DHH expansion. “The administration has proposed shifting the local police station, municipality office and other establishments in the vicinity for expansion of the DHH,” he said. Meanwhile, Collector Sangram Keshari Mohapatra thanked Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and said the decision to develop health services at the DHH has brought cheer and hope among people of Jagatsinghpur district.