The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here will complete five years on Saturday. While the institute has evolved over the years, there are some shortcomings that the institute's administrators and the state government need to take serious note of Sandeep Mishra of The Telegraph brings to you the AIIMS journey.
Beginning
The plan of an AIIMS in Odisha was formed in 2003. It took the Union and the state government around seven years to begin work on the medical college and hospital.
Construction of the health care facility started in 2010 and the college and hospital were opened to both students and patients in 2012. The hospital started with 200 beds and 40 staff members in 25 functional departments.
The number of beds has increased to 500 now. AIIMS now has around 140 doctors and paramedics working in 41 departments. Once fully functional, the hospital will have 1,000 beds.
AIIMS director Gitanjali Batmanbane said they had already developed infrastructure and were now recruiting more staff to make all 45 departments fully functional.
Initiatives
Since its inception, the AIIMS regional centre here has taken several major initiatives that no other state-run hospital had taken so far. It began the yellow fever vaccination in 2015, which is important for people travelling to Africa or Central American countries.
The institute has started a medical unit at Balasore and also collaborated with the health and family welfare department in controlling tuberculosis, dengue, Japanese encephalitis and hearing-related problems. It also plans to open a state-of-the-art public health laboratory in Khurda to better understand endemic diseases in the state.
"We have collaborated with the state government and successfully made efforts to control diseases. We are planning more such services," said a senior AIIMS administrator.
External problems
The AIIMS here has suffered in terms of quality civic services because its area does not fall under the jurisdiction of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation. Consequently, it faces problems of solid waste management, inadequate toilets, recreation facilities and streetlights. AIIMS administrators have written to the state government several times for inclusion of the institute in the corporation bounds but nothing has worked out so far. Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena said they had received the requests from the institute, but it was the Khurda district administration that had to pass a resolution to include the area under the civic body's jurisdiction. The district administration has remained quiet on the issue.
Internal problems
The arrival of patients to the peripheral hospital of the institute has increased significantly over the years. People from Khurda and Nayagarh have started depending heavily on this institute. Considering the rush, the AIIMS has started an online appointment system for its out-patient department but patients complain that they have to wait for a very long time to get treatment despite having prior appointments. "I booked an appointment in the paediatric ward on Wednesday and was called on Friday. I came here at 9 in the morning but had to wait till 12noon to see the doctor about my child," said Meera Bohidar, who came from Khurda.
AIIMS administrators, however, defended it saying that the paediatric and gynaecology wards were the most crowded because it took a long time to treat and see everyone properly. Besides, the AIIMS has also failed to provide a quality drug store here. For four-and-a-half years, the AIIMS didn't have a drug store of its own. In late 2016, it opened an Amrit outlet where patients are supposed to get quality drugs and equipment at affordable prices. But patients complain that they do not get required medicines at this store. "I went to the cardiovascular surgeon who prescribed some medicine. The shop on the campus did not have that," said Pramila Mallik, a patient from Shijua.
