HC panel all praise for DHH at Baripada

BHUBANESWAR: The district headquarters hospital (DHH) at Baripada can be upgraded to a medical college, the High Court- appointed Committee on Healthcare on Sunday stressed. Impressed with the facilities and functioning of the DHH during their unannounced stock-taking visit, the Committee members comprising amicus curiae PR Das, Tarananda Patnaik and Dr PK Pradhan stated that hospital should be a role model for all the DHHs in the State. The 265-bed hospital stands out on almost all fronts despite being overcrowded and catering to the dominantly tribal population. Not only people of the Mayurbhanj district but also from the bordering areas of Jharkhand and West Bengal are dependant on the DHH. And at any point of time there were more than 500 patients admitted to the different departments of the hospital. The Committee pointed out that the DHH  stood on a sprawling campus and had the capacity to be upgraded to a medical college. The hospital scored significantly well in healthcare, patient services, biomedical waste disposal and management. “For the first time in our continuing visits, we came across a help desk in a DHH to provide assistance as well as information to the patients. The different wings and departments of the hospital were well maintained, clean and hygienic. This could also be the first time, when we found doctors and nurses available at all departments and wards”, PR Das said. The hospital had made innovations on its own like not allowing footwear into the wards, a practice that is not even practised in the MCHs. Attendants of the patients were also provided food on subsidy through the canteen. The labour room, despite the workload, was well maintained and managed. However, it was the biomedical waste management that has gained appreciation of the Committee. The hospital had been able to comply with all the norms and institutionalised segregation and sources and disposal in an appropriate manner. Each and every waste was collected and disposed of according to the rules. Anatomical waste was disposed of by the deep burial methods, the site of which was located outside the hospital. The biomedical waste plant was well maintained and functional, the Committee noted.