MCCH Anantnag continues to run from unsafe building, say locals
Facility to be shifted to GMC soon: Principal GMC
Anantnag: The lone maternity and child care hospital (MCCH) in south Kashmir caters to the patients from all the four districts of the region besides patients from Ramban and Chenab valley too visit the place and as such the health facility remains one of the overcrowded hospitals of the valley, locals said.
Located in a congested Sherbagh locality the hospital also faces the space crunch with hospital authorities placing beds in the corridors to accommodate the huge influx of patients coming from various areas of south Kashmir.
More than 100 patients remain admitted in labor and surgical wards of the facility every night, officials said, adding that at least five to six hundreds patients visit the hospital OPD every day for examination.
They said that for such a huge rush, the hospital has just two labor wards and four surgical wards besides the operation theatre.
Multiple patients occupy a single bed, hospital is overcrowded and noisy. People usually jostle with each other to move in the hospital, said a local resident.
Officials said that building in which MCCH is functioning at present has been already declared unsafe by the Fire and Services department.
After building was declared unsafe, the government planned to shift hospital the hospital to the district hospital complex, however, political influence forced authorities to revoke the order within 24 hours, they added.
Five years back the government decided to shift the hospital to Rehmat e Alam building in Sarnal area of the town, however, even after elapsing of five years, hospital continues to work from unsafe building facing huge space crunch besides other problems.
Officials working in the hospital when contacted said that shifting of hospital is not in their domain, however, they acknowledged that patients suffer here as hospital is facing space crunch.
They said that everyday hundreds of patients from far off places of south Kashmir and even Jammu division visit here who are managed here despite the huge challenges.
They said that due to unsafe building they are unable to spend anything here which would enhance facilities here as the building is unsafe and spending anything on an unsafe building will be a futile exercise.
They said that higher ups have been informed several times about the issues and hopefully, the hospital will be shifted in coming two to three months.
Meanwhile, Principal GMC Anantnag Dr Tariq Qureshi said that once block B of GMC hospital in Janglat mandi Anantnag will be completed, the hospital will be shifted there.
He said that they are trying to shift it as soon as possible and both pediatrics and maternity sections will function in first two floors of the under construction building.
Jahangeer Ganaie
