Controversy hits Balangir District Hospital

By Himanshu Guru: Death of a new born in Balangir District Head Quarter Hospital in presence of the Central NRHM team has put the Health Department in an embarrassing situation. The team was on an official visit. However, the angry mob sought a definite answer from the ADMO, Dr. Tiadi and CDMO and allegedly manhandled a doctor as a repercussion of the death.

One Padmini Meher, wife of Dhanurdhar Meher of Salebhata, was admitted to the hospital on 1st November 2012. She gave birth to a baby, who was kept in the special new born care unit of the hospital, as its condition was not good. Yesterday morning Pediatrician Dr. S. Tiadi had said the condition of the new born was okay (as per the victim’s father).

But in the afternoon the nursing staff reported that the kid’s condition was worsening. Hence, attendants of the patient went to call the doctor who was busy in his private clinic located in front of the govt. bus stand. Father of the deceased said that even they had paid five thousand rupees to the doctor as he demanded. But when he came at about 4.15 PM, the kid had already succumbed.

It should be noted that Balangir District hospital is surrounded with several unsolved problems since long. So now citizens of the district and the patients have started to lose their patience.

The National Rural Health Mission reportedly provides crores of money for health facilities to each district HQ Hospitals including Balangir. But the anxious people of Balangir wanted to know about the transparency of the expenditure in this context. The 9 member central NRHM team headed by Dr. Himanshu Bhusan was on the visit to the hospital to look into this matter.

Health Department in the District was preparing for a while to satisfy the NRHM team. The hospital had been given a new look. Staffs of the hospital, who never use to be regular in their duty, were seen right at their seats on the very day. The doctors, who use to run their private clinics in their respective houses, were also seen to be present in the hospital, to show the central team that everything was okay over there.

The patients were astonished to witness these sudden alterations yesterday. No members of the media had been informed about the visit of the central team. But death of the new born made the media persons rush to the hospital.