MARGAO
Patients visiting the South Goa District Hospital may soon find some relief from the ongoing bed shortage, as the hospital administration has initiated steps to augment its bed strength on a priority basis.
However, a crucial question remains unanswered: Will the Directorate of Health Services utilise the hospital’s two vacant top floors to add the new beds, or will the additional capacity be managed within the existing male and female medicine wards?
For now, it appears that the hospital will accommodate a few additional beds in both the male and female medicine wards, as well as in the casualty section, to meet the rising demand for inpatient care.
When contacted, Hospicio Medical Superintendent Dr Rajendra Borkar confirmed that the hospital is acting on Health Minister Vishwajit Rane’s directive to increase the bed capacity. “As per the Health Minister’s instructions, the district hospital is increasing the bed strength. The process will be completed in a day or two,” Dr Borkar stated.
Regarding the readiness to handle more patients, Dr Borkar added that the current team of doctors and staff will manage the intake for now. “The government is aware of the manpower requirements to operate the facility,” he noted.
Even a small increase in bed numbers may provide much-needed relief to patients who are currently forced to receive treatment on stretchers or wheelchairs due to lack of available beds.
Nonetheless, the larger issue remains: Will the government finally utilise the hospital’s two unused upper floors”originally planned and developed during former Chief Minister Digambar Kamat’s tenure”to fully address the growing healthcare needs of South Goa’s population?
The South Goa district hospital was conceived and planned during Kamat’s tenure as Chief Minister around a decade and half ago as a 500-bedded hospital. Kamat had proposed a 500-bedded district hospital as he was a witness how patients were forced to share beds in the old Hospicio hospital building due to space constraints.
However, though it’s now half-a-decade since the district hospital was commissioned in 2020, the hospital’s top two floors remain vacant till date as the government has been toying with the idea of setting up of a nursing college and a medical college on these two floors.
Given the government’s plan to accommodate a nursing college or medical college, sources pointed out that the top two floors of the building have been renovated for classrooms and conference halls and has no provision for beds. “We do not know how many beds will the district hospital increase as per the Health Minister’s instructions.
The bed shortage issue had figured prominently in the just concluded session of the Goa Legislative Assembly after Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao referred to a report carried by The Goan on district hospital bed shortage.
Kamat inspects wards, reviews bed shortage
MARGAO: Margao MLA Digambar Kamat on Tuesday paid a visit to the South Goa District Hospital to take stock of the situation arising due to the bed shortage.
The Margao MLA was closeted with hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Rajendra Borkar and other doctors for quite some time as he took a review on the number of beds and how to tide over the situation.
He is believed to have taken a round of the wards to see for himself the prevailing situation.
When contacted, Kamat told The Goan that he has visited the district hospital to take a review of the situation. He recalled that Chief Minister Pramod Sawant had promised on the floor of the House to issue instructions to the Director Health Services to increase the bed strength. “Health Minister Vishwajit Rane had also issued instructions to the Hospicio Medical Superintendent to increase the bed strength on priority. I have come to take a review,” Kamat added.
Vijai demands urgent use of vacant floors
MARGAO: Goa Forward Party President and Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai has strongly condemned the government’s failure to address the acute shortage of beds at South Goa District Hospital (SGDH), calling it “criminal negligence” that has left patients lying on floors, stretchers and wheelchairs.
Sardesai recalled that during the Monsoon Session of the Goa Legislative Assembly on August 7, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant had assured the House that instructions would be issued to the Director of Health Services to immediately increase the number of beds. “Yet, nothing has changed. Patients are still being treated in undignified conditions while two entire hospital floors remain vacant and unused,” Sardesai said.
Demanding urgent intervention, Sardesai called for, immediate installation of beds, medical staff, equipment and basic facilities in the two unused floors of SGDH, and a clear public statement from the Health Secretary if the government is unable or unwilling to operationalise these floors.
“South Goa’s largest public hospital is being allowed to rot while patients suffer. The BJP government must either make use of the infrastructure or explain to Goans why it is deliberately denying them proper treatment,” Sardesai said, urging the Health Department to act without delay.
