Lack of capacity at public hospitals plagues Ggn

Public healthcare system continues to be a major challenge in Gurugram.

Not only do the two public hospitals presently functional in the city have to deal with the patients of Gurugram, there are also a large number of patients coming from the outskirts of the city.

The inadequate capacity of the two hospitals has resulted in the state government announcing that there will be another public hospital that will be built in the district of Gurugram.

However, it is not only the challenge of expanding the public healthcare facilities in the city but also revamping the present set of public hospitals that are reeling under extreme poor conditions.

Functioning since the 1970s, the Civil Hospital near the Sadar Bazaar at the main city centre is functioning under imperfect conditions.

There are questions that have been raised on the safety of the building as major cracks have developed on the walls of the hospitals' buildings.

Further, the NOC for fire safety is also to be obtained by the hospital.

Besides, issues of safety, lack of beds, proper testing facilities and shortage of paramedical staff are also major complaints against the hospital.

The inability of the hospital to deal with advanced medical treatment of patients is also resulting in it referring most of the patients to public hospitals of Delhi like AIIMS and Safdarjung Hospital.

Expensive private healthcare system in the city makes it difficult for the lower middle class to avail their services.

"Gurugram has expanded rapidly over the years and therefore the public healthcare system has to match with it. Today, not only are we treating patients from Gurugram city but also its outskirts. Since the outskirts of Gurugram which includes areas in Mewat and Nuh are economically backward and do not have medical facilties, it adds burden to the hospital as it has limited capacity," said Pushpa Bishnoi, Chief Surgeon at Civil Hospital.

"We are in the process of expanding the capacity of Civil Hospital. We have had a discussion with the State education board if they can provide us with some of their land so that we can expand the structure of Civil Hospital. Meanwhile, our team is trying its best to deal with patients especially from the backward regions like Mewat and Nuh as they only have the public healthcare system of Gurugram to depend on," added Bishnoi.