It was partially inaugurated in May 2020, when Covid-19 infections began spreading in Goa, and a good 12 years after the foundation stone was laid. And while one would have expected it to be running smoothly by now, many chinks remain in the armour of the South Goa District Hospital.
It is a no-brainer that the establishment of a full-fledged healthcare facility for the southern part of the state was more a necessity than a dream. In the absence of such a centre, the Goa Medical College at Bambolim was overburdened and its medical staff were stretched beyond their limits as cases requiring urgent medical intervention – from heart attacks to accidents – kept pouring into the tertiary care institute from South Goa on a daily basis. Also, the OPDs at the GMC’s various departments were themselves unable to keep up with the demand of patients making a beeline from all parts of the state and even beyond it for routine check-ups or seeking treatment for particular health issues.
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When the South Goa District Hospital was finally thrown open five years ago, citizens heaved a sigh of relief. Not only would travel to the closest well-equipped government hospital be slashed, but there was also confidence that the hospital would offer services on a par with the GMC. However, cut to the following day, and the common man complains that the services offered at the facility are way below satisfactory. They also say that many patients, particularly road accident victims, are still being referred from southern regions to the GMC because of insufficient staff and lack of certain medical equipment at the South Goa District Hospital. As a result, voices demanding that the latter be upgraded to a tertiary care facility – the level of the GMC – and be made fully functional are getting louder by the day.
Last September, Health Minister Vishwajit Rane conducted a surprise visit at the South Goa District Hospital to address repeated complaints of a shortage of medical staff and the resultant queues of patients at the OPDs there. He underscored that the facility needed fully functional departments of cardiology, neurology and orthopaedics and also assured that things would get better within five months.
But if a recent petition to the health minister by a citizen is anything to go by, it does not appear that the situation has improved much. In his communication to Rane, Prabhav Naik said that delayed diagnoses of non-communicable diseases and the lack of access to life-saving treatments at the South Goa District Hospital continue to affect vulnerable populations. He also said that universal health coverage will remain out of reach unless immediate steps are taken to protect citizens from the financial burden of healthcare. Other issues that were highlighted included long waiting times for patient registration, elevators that frequently malfunction, inadequate services such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) scans, a functional intensive care unit (ICU) and a blood bank.
Ambulances too are in short supply. This was highlighted last year when a young man who suffered a fracture to his leg was made to wait at the South Goa District Hospital for three hours in excruciating pain as there were no ambulances available to move him to the GMC for treatment.
It is the need of the hour for the government to walk the talk and provide the manpower and equipment that are so sorely needed by the South Goa District Hospital. The people of South Goa should not be given step-motherly treatment especially now, when a government healthcare facility such as the South Goa District Hospital is functional in the district. Instead of continuing to make people’s lives difficult by leaving doctors with no choice but to refer cases from South Goa to the GMC, the government should instead focus on improving the hospital and ensuring it is well-equipped and well-staffed. Else, the ailing South Goa District Hospital will soon need to be on life support itself and patients’ lives will be in limbo.
