‘Debhewadi hospital to be ready in 2 months’

The construction of Debhewadi’s rural hospital will be completed in two months, health department officials said on Tuesday.

The construction of Debhewadi’s rural hospital will be completed in two months, health department officials said on Tuesday.

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The assurance comes a day after HT published a report on how equipment such as operation tables, sterilisers and ECG machines were lying in a room that used to be Debhewadi gram panchayat’s office as the hospital had been under construction since 2011.

Doctors have been performing deliveries in a civic school built with tin sheets, and in the last three months, six babies have been delivered.

Dr Archana Patil, director of directorate of health services, said: “The hospital was sanctioned in 2009, but owing to paucity of space and changes in budget estimates, the construction was delayed. Usually we see to it that the supply of equipment and construction are finished at the same time.”

Officials insisted that doctors conducted only emergency deliveries in the makeshift hospital. “They don’t do surgical deliveries,” said Dr Patil.

Like Debhewadi, three rural hospitals at Medha, Audh and Dahiwadi have been under construction for two to three years. Officials have been asked to speed up work and complete them soon.