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Malegaon: Such is the architectural
beauty of the Malegaon General Hospital that the Malegaonians -
the beleaguered people of Malegaon, who
otherwise do not have a single public garden for a family outing,
make it a point during the holidays to visit it with a day’s meal
and have fun. The basic infrastructure and fundamentals of the
200-beded hospital built on 4.4 hectares of land also are very
impressive. Right from gynaecology and paediatric to ortho and
dental - department wise too it has almost everything (see box).
However, many people including those who batted for it for years
feel that even after two and half years of its inauguration on
June 30, 2009 by UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, most of the
promises still remain a dream. And non-availability of machineries
and inadequate staff, they fear, will finally ruin the hospital
which was supposed to be a hub of major surgeries and healing
heaven for thousands of patients from in and around Malegaon.
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Malegaon Gen
Hospital |
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• Total Area: 4.4 hectares
• Build-up Area: 9017 sq m
• Cost: An estimated 16 crore rupees
• No. of beds: 200
• Operation Theatre: 01/04
• OPD’s of various departments: 13
• X-Ray Machine: 01 (100 mm)
• Ultrasound: 02
• Blood Bank: No
• C-Arm: No
• Water: Rain water harvesting and solar system for hot water
• Electricity: No connection with express feeder
• Access Road to Main City: Still under Construction |
“I recently visited the hospital with one of my patients who was
suffering from appendicitis and needed the surgery urgently. I was
shocked to note that there was no one to attend to him at the
first place. After some persuasion, a nurse came and then entered
a doctor who claimed to be a medical officer. Even though I
insisted for a physician or a surgeon none was in sight. The
doctor advised sonography and then vanished”, Dr YU Ansari, a
local practitioner informed the ummid.com.
Dr. Ansari later rushed to
the radiology department only to learn that the ultrasound
machines are not operational and he would need the sonography to
be done from outside.
Dr Ansari’s experience is not alone of its kind. Many patients the
ummid.com spoke to allege that the staffs do not perform their duties as
they are expected to, though they also admitted, some of them
are really good and gentle. The most agonising for the
patients, besides the absence of specialists, they say is the
non-operational machines especially the ultrasound.
Hospital record shows that there are around 700-800 OPDs and 10-12
surgeries which are registered at the hospital every day. In the
absence of proper staff and equipments, it can be just imagined
how this huge number of daily OPDs must have been treated. What's
more, in most of these cases the doctors need diagnostic tests and
because the ultrasound machines at the hospital are not
operational, they
refer patients to outside radiologists.
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Current Staff
Position |
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• Approved Posts: 322
• Surgeons: 03
• Gynaecologists: 05
• Ortho: 03
• Paediatricians: 05
• Ophthalmologists: 01
• Anaesthetist: 01
• Physicians: Nil
• Radiologists: Nil
• ENT Specialist: Nil
• Nurses: 59 (20 short of the actual 79)
• Vacant Posts: 101 |
“Due to this the patients,
who mostly are from the poorest of the poor of the society, have
to pay 400-500 rupees for a test which otherwise would have been
done free of cost had the machines at the hospital are in working
condition”, says Khurshid Ansari of Citizens for Development &
Peace (CDP).
Ironically when the ummid.com tried to know from the hospital
superintendent Dr RB Jadhav about the non-operational ultrasound
machines he said that the machines were in fact fully operational
but since the hospital did not have a radiologist, they could not
be used.
“We are trying to deliver our best using the available resources
and manpower in hand. If still there are problems we are trying to
sort them. As for the radiologist, the government has recently
appointed one and the ultrasound machines will be operational very soon”, he said.
About the physician, he said, “There
is a shortage of physicians in the entire state.”
However, a doctor who is associated with the hospital since its
inauguration revealed that despite persistent requests no
radiologist was appointed and the one who had joined a fortnight
before would be retiring in couple of days.
“It in fact is a kind of joke. We
have been continuously demanding for at least one radiologist and
after a persistent effort of more than two years the one who has
been appointed is almost close to retirement”, he said.
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