Sohna Civil Hospital to be upgraded to ‘first referral unit’ by July end

Health department officials said that due to the lack of staff and facilities at the Sohna hospital, patients are forced to visit the Sector 10 civil hospital which burdens the services there.

The Civil Hospital in Sohna, which currently lacks adequate staff and infrastructure, is likely to be renovated and turned into a first referral unit, complete with a blood bank and an operation theatre, by the end of this month, district health department officials said. The decision was taken on Tuesday in order to reduce patient burden on the Sector 10 Civil Hospital—currently the district’s only large government hospital—and to improve healthcare services in Sohna, officials said.

The Sohna civil hospital has one gynaecologist, no paediatrician and inadequate staff to deliver babies or perform operations. (HT File Photo)

A first referral unit is a hospital or community healthcare centre which has facilities for obstetric surgery, blood transfusion, specialist paediatric care, operation theatre and required equipment. Patients, particularly pregnant women, are referred to the unit by health workers and ASHAs at public healthcare centres.

Currently, the Sohna hospital only has one gynaecologist, no paediatrician and inadequate staff to deliver babies or perform operations.

According to Gurugram civil surgeon Dr Jaswant Singh Punia, vacancies for the posts of one gynaecologist, one paediatrician and staff nurses have been advertised and walk-in interviews will be held this month. He said permission to set up a blood bank has been sought from the state health department. “Details were discussed with the state health department today (on Tuesday) and it should be set up within this month,” Punia said.

Health department officials said that due to the lack of staff and facilities at the Sohna hospital, patients are forced to visit the Sector 10 civil hospital which burdens the services there.

Currently, more than 2,000 patients visit the Sector 10 hospital daily, while the 30-bed hospital in Sohna sees over 200 patients per day in its OPD. However, staff at the hospital said that all pregnant women who come to the Sohna facility are referred to the Sector 10 Civil Hospital.

A proposal to build a new block with 100 beds at the Sector 10 Civil Hospital was approved by the state health department last month.