Odisha govt to close Covid-19 hospital in Sambalpur

SAMBALPUR: The state government is planning to close the Covid-19 hospital of Sambalpur, which has been set up at the district headquarter hospital (DHH), and make the DHH functional at its original place again.
The DHH stopped functioning at its original place after the Covid-19 hospital became functional there on April 22 this year.
The authorities of the Covid-19 hospital here have also stopped admitting Covid-19 infected patients to the hospital to pave way for closure of the Covid-19 hospital and making the DHH functional there.
Chief district medical officer (CDMO), Sambalpur, Sashi Bhusan Patel admitted that there is proposal to close the Covid-19 hospital in Sambalpur. “We are now referring the Covid-19 patients to the Covid-19 hospital of Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (VIMSAR), Burla,” he said.
He further said, as of Sunday, there are 24 patients in the general ward and 3 patients in the ICU of the Covid-19 hospital in Sambalpur. The Covid-19 hospital here will be closed after these patients will be cured and discharged and following which the DHH will be made functional at its original place, he added.
After converting the DHH into Covid-19 hospital on April 22, the district administration here made alternative arrangements to provide health services to the people dependent on the DHH.
And to provide uninterrupted health services to the people, the district administration made the community health center, Hirakud, urban primary health center, Ainthapali, and Dr JP Maternity Hospital at Baidyanath chowk functional round the clock. Moreover, the Primary health centers at Khetrajpur, Dhankauda and Dhanupali of the city were made functional for 12 hours from 8am to 8am every day. But though the district administration made alternative arrangements to provide health services to the people, the closure of DHH at its original place had caused dissatisfaction among the residents here.
However, a Covid-19 hospital became functional on the premises of VIMSAR on October 12. The Covid-19 hospital at VIMSAR has 100 general beds and 20 ICU beds. The plan to close the Covid-19 hospital in Sambalpur has been made after the Covid-19 hospital at VIMSAR was made functional.