BARIPADA: Lack of endoscopy facility at Pandit Raghunath Murmu Government Medical College and Hospital (PRM-MCH) in Baripada is posing difficulty for patients of the district as well as from outside who depend on the hospital for health care services.
Around 300 patients visit PRM-MCH daily from across Mayurbhanj apart from neighbouring Balasore district, Jharkhand and West Bengal. Of these, at least 25 patients seek endoscopy but due to the absence of necessary equipment, they have no option but to avail the service at private hospitals.
Rabindra Swain, a resident of Lalbzaar in Ward No-4 of Baripada municipality said he has advised endoscopy but since the facility was not available there, he had to get it done at a private nursing home at Rs 1,200 which otherwise would have been free of cost at a government hospital.
There are many like Swain who face a similar plight due to the absence of an endoscopy facility at PRM-MCH. Denizens have also raised concerns as to why they should depend on private medical facilities when there is an MCH in the town. In-charge Principal of PRM MCH Prof Dr. Ramkrushna Sahoo admitted that endoscopy facility is not available here due to insufficient space and other problems.