Suhail Bhat
Srinagar, Dec 17: Much to the relief of residents, the new building for 100- bedded district hospital Bandipora in north Kashmir was made functional by administration last week after a gap of almost a decade.
The authorities shifted the hospital from an old cramped building to a new multi-story structure, providing relief to both patients and doctors. The old structure was not only insufficient to cater to the enormous rush of patients, but hampering the healthcare services.
Ishfaq Ahmad, Nodal Officer for shifting process, told Excelsior that the hospital was made functional last week and all the facilities were available. “The facilities which were available in the old hospital have also been placed here. We will resume surgeries in the coming days. Besides, we have an excellent facility of wards and OPD is functional round the clock,” he said, adding that the hospital would cater to the healthcare needs of the entire district.
The residents said they have been waiting for the opening of the new facility as they were facing immense hardships in absence of the adequate infrastructure. They said the hospital caters to the entire district and lack of space would often force people to visit other districts for treatment.
“People are thrilled as they have been waiting for the opening of the facility for a long time. The old hospital was overcrowded and people would find it difficult to get timely treatment. Most of the times the helpless doctors would simply send patients away for the lack of space,” Basharat Najar, Chairman municipal Committee Bandipora said, adding that the hospital should also be provided with the central heating system and round-the-clock electricity.
Heaving a sigh of relief doctors said, despite being a 30-bedded hospital, they could put only 12 to use in the older hospital. “Lack of space for beds often forces us to defer the surgeries. It has also limited our working capacity, forced us to deliver our services from the temporary sheds. Services like OPD, emergency and immunization are delivered from these nondescript sheds,” a doctor said, adding that the new facility would end most of the problems.
However, the doctors said, the hospital has a dearth of staff and posts for key specializations like ENT and orthopaedics are yet to be filled. “The hospital has been shifted but it lacks necessary staff. We don’t have a staff of a district hospital. We need more medical officers, Medical Assistants and Pharmacists in the hospital,” a doctor said, adding that the diagnostics equipment like MRI and CT- scan machines are also missing in the hospital.
Meanwhile, the Financial Commissioner, Department of Health and Medical Education, Atul Dalloo, visited the facility on 10th December and assured that all the facilities would be provided in the hospital. “There is a need of doctors in the hospital and we are sending a list of doctors to the public service commission for that, “he told reporters.
He added whatever equipment it requires modernizing the operation theatres, they would provide that. “We have ventilators here. OTs are also good. In addition, we will provide full support to set up the laboratory and ICU,” he said, adding that the central heating system and hotline would also be provided soon.
Aimed at tackling the issues of overcrowding and space constraints, a new building for the hospital was allotted and work was, subsequently, started in 2009. With an estimated cost of Rs 24.32 crores, the project was handed over to Jammu and Kashmir Housing Board but the construction company took almost a decade to complete the construction process because of alleged slow funding.
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