MARGAO: Ailing citizens of Salcete taluka are unhappy that they are regularly referred to Goa Medical College (GMC) in Bambolim, and even to private hospitals, from the South Goa District Hospital (SGDH), due to the absence of certain key medical facilities. With patients’ family members also having to commute to the North district, they lament that their expectations for the hospital’s services have remained unmet.
The lack of facilities at the SGDH (Hospicio), had been brought to the attention of Health Minister Vishwajit Rane during his recent visit to Margao, where he admitted that these issues were taking time but assured that the upgradation process of the hospital would be completed soon and that the setting up of a private medical college would help integrate the medical services, which would benefit the Goan public.
“The ‘BJP Goa Model’ that the Health Minister boasts of stands exposed. Patients at South Goa District Hospital are referred to private hospitals for lack of oxygen and other ICU facilities. Does Vishwajit Rane care to inspect the government hospital and set things right?” questioned Benaulim MLA Venzy Viegas while sharing a referral note that confirmed that a patient who was being examined at SGDH was being transferred to another hospital for ICU care.
At the recently concluded Assembly session, this glaring lack of medical facilities in the SGDH was discussed in detail and several MLAs of the district had also expressed their anger. From April 2022 to February 2023, a staggering 2,95,387 patients were examined for various ailments in the hospital’s OPD. Out of this, 31,195 patients were admitted at SGDH, and 3,612 were referred for further treatment. Tragically, three patients lost their lives while being transported from the hospital to GMC.
“People continue to suffer due to the lack of promised facilities,” said Christopher Fernandes, a Borda resident. He believes that the government needs to make arrangements to provide all the necessary facilities so that patients no longer need to be referred to faraway GMC for better treatment.
Besides absence of equipment, it was also pointed out that various posts of medical and paramedical professionals had not been filled either.
In response to these challenges, Health Minister Vishwajit Rane had, in the Assembly, mentioned difficulties in recruiting specialists and proposed a model involving a partnership with the public sector HLL Lifecare Limited. He stated that a committee would be formed under the Chief Minister’s leadership, with the goal of completing the integration of services within the next six months.
