The Maharaja Agrasen Civil Hospital in Hisar appears to be grappling with its own problems while causing inconvenience to patients and raising serious questions over the quality of services being provided at the district hospital.
The civil hospital, which has approval for 300 beds but functions with only 200, needs a major overhaul to ensure that patients visiting the facility receive proper healthcare and treatment. Moreover, crucial facilities such as an MRI machine and a C-arm machine are not available. The hospital also has only one radiologist, who operates the ultrasound centres at both the Hisar and Hansi civil hospitals. Even a recent inspection by health department officials found that about 35 of the 55 doctors posted at the hospital were absent from duty, following which notices were served to them.
The recent controversy involving rodents feeding on the body of a woman kept in a freezer also exposed the sorry state of affairs at the hospital.
A visit to the hospital revealed that patients seeking treatment have to face challenges even before entering the premises. With the main entrance closed due to renovation work, visitors are forced to use a temporary, unpaved and dusty pathway to access the hospital. Visitors complained about the lack of clean potable water and affordable canteen facilities. The ultrasound centre at the civil hospital remains closed on Tuesdays and Sundays as there is only one radiologist for the civil hospitals in Hisar and Hansi. He visits the Hansi hospital on Tuesdays.
A patient, Ravin, who visited the civil hospital on Tuesday, was advised to undergo an ultrasound test. However, since the doctor was unavailable, he had to visit a private ultrasound centre and spend about Rs 1,000 for the test.
The hospital was built in 1957 and continues to operate from the same building, as additional floors cannot be constructed due to restrictions imposed by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), which oversees the historic Gujri Mahal located nearby. Under ASI rules, no construction is allowed within a 100-metre radius of protected monuments.
With about 2,000 visitors in the outpatient department (OPD) every day, the civil hospital is a major government healthcare institution in Hisar district, drawing patients not only from Hisar but also from adjoining districts and even Rajasthan.
Dr Ramesh Punia, a healthcare activist, said that with no super-specialists, no cancer treatment facilities, no MRI machine, several ventilators lying unused, a newly procured C-arm machine yet to be operational, and a lack of adequate clean and potable water for patients and staff, the civil hospital has been grappling with serious shortcomings.
“There has been hollow talk about the construction of a new building for a long time, even as about Rs 20 crore has been spent on maintenance of this building over the past decade, which is a waste of government funds,” he said. He alleged that the negligent attitude of successive state governments had forced the hospital to function with restricted resources and without some crucial services, while the lackadaisical attitude of the hospital authorities had further added to the woes.
Principal Medical Officer Dr Reena Jain admitted that the space crunch had prevented the hospital from expanding bed capacity from the existing 200 to the 300 beds approved by the state government. However, she maintained that the hospital was providing the best possible services to patients and claimed that clean drinking water was available for all visitors.
Dr Jain said the freezers would be restored soon, adding that the issue had been taken up with the maintenance firm, which had repaired the freezers. She also said the C-arm machine would become operational shortly. The PMO said the hospital had about 12 functioning ventilators, which was more than required.
She added the problem of constructing a new hospital building was pending with the state government due to complications in the transfer of land from the Government Livestock Farm (GLF), which owns the land, to the Health Department.
