‘It has ventilators but no drinking water’

The state-run civil hospital in Gurgaon, which is undergoing a massive facelift at the cost of crores of rupees, may have recently acquired sophisticated equipment and newly trained doctors but the facility still lacks basic amenities, such as drinking water, food and security guards. Eshani Mathur reports.

The state-run civil hospital here, which is undergoing a massive facelift at the cost of crores of rupees, may have recently acquired sophisticated equipment and newly trained doctors but the facility still lacks basic amenities, such as drinking water, food and security guards.

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“The hospital looks very attractive and promising now but the authority should install more water coolers and a nice canteen where we can eat,” said Ananya, a patient.

The hospitals facelift is taking place on three fronts: building, equipment, and the services.

The services will be need-based like security, horticulture, kitchen and free medical services. said Dr Khajan Singh, the principal medical officer (PMO), Civil Hospital.

“There are currently four functional water coolers in the hospital and others will be installed as work progresses,” said Dr. Singh.

He also said that the food will be outsourced along with other services under management's consideration.

The CMO said the Civic Hospital would be able to provide competition to private healthcare bigwigs like Max, Artemis and Paras when the renovation finishes by July end. 15 specialists are being sent for a two-weeks long training to Post graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGIMS), Rohtak in batches of five.

“They belong to various departments like surgery, physiotherapy, gynaecology and psychiatry and will learn operation of the new machinery installed in the hospital.”

However, some practices like the behaviour of staff with patients still leave much to be desired, much though the authorities are trying to improve them.

“The people are little more courteous towards us now. It's easier to interact with them unlike before, but a lot more needs to be done on this front,” said Dhruv, a patient.