ROURKELA: The proposal to double the bed capacity of Rourkela’s ESIC Model Hospital remains stalled even as the facility struggles with critical administrative and resource shortages.
On August 19, the CITU’s Sundargarh district committee raised concerns about the worsening conditions and alleged a deliberate effort to undermine the hospital’s effectiveness. The committee has announced plans for an agitation outside the hospital on August 27.
Despite being the sole Model Hospital for Odisha, the 50-bed facility has seen its importance diminish with the operation of a larger, 100-bed ESIC hospital in Balaramprasad in Angul district, which has been in place for over two years.
The Model Hospital here caters to approximately 1.5 lakh insured persons (IPs) and their dependents, according to its official website. CITU national vice-president and Odisha general secretary Bishnu Mohanty criticised the hospital’s management, citing a severe shortage of medical staff. The hospital, which should have 26 doctors, currently has only nine due to recent mass transfers. Key departments like Medicine lack staffing, and essential diagnostic facilities such as X-Ray, MRI, Ultrasound, Endoscopy, and CT Scan are not available. Additionally, language barriers between doctors from other states and patients increase the problems.
