Siolim Primary Health Centre is located in the heart of Siolim village but people are reluctant to visit the centre because it lacks basic facilities.
One of the major issues is the shortage of space. The congestion at the centre does not allow all the facilities to be under one roof.
Located in heart of Siolim village, the PHC not only caters to the locals of Siolim but also attends to tourists as well as the migrants. However, with the shortage of many basic facilities, villagers are forced to visit the District Hospital in Mapusa.
Since Siolim also has the famous Vagator and Anjuna beaches, many tourists who stay in Siolim and move around in bikes and scooters, are involved in minor accidents in the area and the PHC cannot provide them the necessary health care.
The second shortcoming is the lack of a medical officer and a resident RMO. The centre also lacks X-ray and ultra sound machines which are currently the basic needs of any health centre.
The centre also does not have a pathology department and a blood bank. There is shortage of servants to keep the hospital clean. Shortage of nurses and ward boys is another issue which needs urgent attention.
Since the space at the PHC was not sufficient the government has started to build a new building. However, work at the new building is at a standstill since 2010 because the contractor has abandoned the work for the past seven years.
Sources informed that the previous contractor has completed only 40 per cent of the construction work of the new building. With an estimates cost of Rs1.33 crore, the building was supposed to be ready by 2010 but now it’s been seven years that the building is still lying incomplete.
With space congestion is amongst the major problem in this center, the new building is need of hour.
Sources said the new building will provide all the facilities to the people since it will be upgraded to one higher level. The new building will be a ground plus one structure where the ground floor will have pharmacy and OPD while the conference hall and offices will be located on the first floor.
The authorities have managed to maintain the present structure of the centre but the shortage of staff is also another problem. There is also lack of dental assistance because of which the dental doctor who is available here is burdened with extra duty and has to manage all the work by himself.
Sources also said that on an average 150 patients visit this centre daily and around three to four thousand patients are cared for every month. Also people from nearby villages of Morjim and Mandrem visit this centre.
The health officer, Cheryl Dsouza, said, “Right now there are not many problems compared to the earlier days. Whatever problems exist at present, will be solved once the new building gets ready. The contractor left the work incomplete but soon a new tender for this project will be floated and work is expected to begin soon.”
