Super specialty status: Central team visits IGH to review infrastructure

Rourkela: A seven-member team sent by the Centre reviewed infrastructure setup of the Ispat General Hospital (IGH), Rourkela, today to consider accordance of a ‘super speciality’ status to the hospital as demanded by local legislator Dilip Ray and chief minister Naveen Patnaik.

Last year Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced plans to upgrade the IGH, Rourkela, to a super specialty hospital and medical college. However, the work is yet to kick off following which the chief minister and the Rourkela legislator separately wrote to the PM urging him to speed up the upgradation process.

In March this year, the Rourkela MLA had written a letter to the PM to grant the super specialty hospital status to the IGH as committed by Modi.

Though 107 doctor posts have been approved for the IGH, Rourkela, several positions are lying vacant after retirement of senior doctors. Therefore, patients are forced to visit hospitals outside the State to get better medical care.

Commenting on the development, Union Minister for Tribal Affairs Jual Oram said in spite of the fact that the demands to upgrade the hospital to a super speciality status has been deferred by three years but it has all the necessary infrastructure and after the reports of the team comes the upgradation process will be done.