Odisha hospital treating patients under mobile light for years!

Patients at Binika community health centre (CHC) in Subarnapur district are being treated under the flash lights of mobile phones due to the lack of a functional generator. Allegedly, doctors even administer saline drips in near-total darkness, highlighting a pressing issue persisting for years, sources said on Friday.

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Medical personnel resort to their mobile phones’ torches during procedures, casting a stark light on the dire infrastructure shortages. The absence of a backup generator, especially in emergencies, raises serious safety concerns.

Sorry state of affairs

“Power outages frequently occur for hours together in the hospital (Binika CHC). How will the patients stay here without electricity?” a patient, Gurudeb Behera questioned.

“Doctors are treating under mobile lights,” the patient said to OTV.

Despite numerous complaints, authorities have yet to respond, leaving both patients and staff grappling with this inadequate setup.

"During power outages, we face this problem. When the inverter gets exhausted and fails to supply power, we manage otherwise. After the DG set is shifted, I hope the problem will get resolved,” Binika CHC Medical Officer, Satyanarayan Panigrahy stated.

“The matter will end soon. I had a talk with the SDO in this regard. The Superintending Engineer was also informed. The SDO assured me that the issue will be resolved,” Panigrahy said.

Earlier in another incident, patients were seen undergoing chemotherapy under mobile phone torch lights at Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (VIMSAR) in Burla, Sambalpur. With no other option, doctors had to rely on mobile phone torch lights to continue with the critical treatments.

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Such scenes were witnessed despite the hospital having a backup generator, which was probably defunct and could not be put to use, raising concerns over hospital management practices.