Khaira: Once a source of hope, the government homeopathic hospital at Gadapokhari under Khaira block in Balasore district has turned into a haunted house.
While the hospital has been devoid of doctors for the last nine months, the peon appears once in a blue moon only to sign the attendance register, the villagers have alleged.
Established in 1975, the hospital is equidistant from villages in Balasore, Bhadrak, Mayurbhanj and Keonjhar districts. This is the reason why the hospital used to have hundreds of patients from these districts on a daily basis.
Dr Brajendra Nayak continued here for a period of more than 10 years. Till his retirement in February 2019, he had been attending to over 100 patients daily.
The situation changed for the worse since the retirement of Dr Nayak. Patients had stopped visiting the hospital as there was no doctor at the hospital.
In a bid to make the situation better, Dr Subhranshu Sekhar Sethy from Bahanaga area was deputed at the hospital for two days a week. This arrangement somehow helped the hospital get its patients but not as many as it used to receive earlier.
But the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic proved to be the final nail in the hospital’s coffin. As the pandemic necessitated the involvement of more doctors, Dr Sethy was deputed to a different place, leaving the hospital to its own fate.
“We have stopped visiting the hospital since the transfer of Dr Sethy. Once there used to be hustle and bustle at the hospital and now it bears a deserted look,” rued some villagers including Madan Panda, Bipad Das, Banshidhar Panda and Tapan Dalei.
When contacted, Dr Sethy said he has been in charge of COVID-19 at Gopalpur since March. ‘I have not visited the hospital at Gadapokhari since then,” he added.
Meanwhile, Gadapokhari panchayat samiti member Sanjushree Barik threatened that she along with the villagers will stage a sit-in if the doctor is not reinstated.
PNN
