BHUBANESWAR: On Tuesday morning, the director of Chanakya Hospital in Cuttack, Harish Chandra Mohapatra, had to rush to the facility after frantic calls from the staff. An elderly patient from Bardhaman district in West Bengal, who had undergone a total hip replacement just days earlier, was insisting on being discharged immediately, and even demanded that his stitches be removed ahead of date.
Doctors advised at least another week of hospitalisation but no amount of reasoning or appeal from Mohapatra, nurses and staff made any difference. Eventually, left with no choice, they discharged him under a Leave Against Medical Advice (LAMA) notice.
The reason was not medical, but political. With elections underway in West Bengal, and Bardhaman scheduled to vote on April 23, the patient and his family had reportedly received urgent calls to return home to cast their votes.
This incident is far from isolated. Hospitals across Cuttack and Bhubaneswar, both private and public are witnessing a similar pattern. While patient inflow from the neighbouring state, which accounts for a substantial chunk of admissions in the hospitals here, has dropped to a trickle, those under treatment are desperate to leave mid-treatment.
As the election heat in the neighbouring state reaches its crescendo, hospitals in Odisha, particularly the Twin City, are taking a hit. For long years, Cuttack and recently Bhubaneswar have been preferred by patients from West Bengal, particularly the southern and western districts of the state, due to quality and affordable treatment.
Cuttack has traditionally been the hub of healthcare not only in Odisha but for neighbouring states like West Bengal and Jharkhand.
Such has been the attraction among West Bengal patients for Cuttack that a huge number of nursing homes, clinics, diagnostic centres and pharmacies in the city have Bengali name plates and signages displayed prominently.
“Ours is a orthopaedic and trauma care specialty hospital. Over the past two weeks, we’ve seen over 50 per cent drop in patients from Bengal. At present, only emergency and critical cases are arriving, while others are deferring till elections are over,” Mohapatra said.
AIIMS-Bhubaneswar, which has seen a huge surge in patients from the neighbouring state in the recent years, also marked a drop in attendance by over 80 per cent. Hospital sources said, on an average 30-40 per cent of patients reporting at the outpatient department of the premier healthcare institution everyday used to be from Bengal. But, now it is less than five per cent.
Acknowledging the development, medical superintendent Pravas Ranjan Tripathy said, “AIIMS-Bhubaneswar has turned a preferred health institution for people from West Bengal, because of its high quality and affordable treatment. Due to elections there, the inflow has decreased.” AIIMS sources, however, pointed out this has freed up beds for Odisha patients and also reduced the waiting list for admissions and surgeries.
Leading gastroenterologist Prof SP Singh, who is also witnessing significantly lower turnout of Bengal patients at his clinic in Cuttack, observed, “Elections in the state this time is like nothing before. With a tight contest on the cards, political parties and the voters are not leaving anything to chance. While many are deferring treatment, even serious ones are taking the risk of delays to exercise their franchise. Post-elections, the situation will return to normal.”