The orthopaedic department of MKCG. Picture by Gopal Krishna Reddy

Berhampur, May 21: K. Basanti Patra, 53, of Chatrapur, a blood pressure patient who got admitted to the new medicine ward of MKCG hospital here five days ago, had to be carried to the second floor in a stretcher through the staircase.

Similar is the case with 80 patients (40 each on the first and second floor), who were admitted to the new medicine ward, had to be carried in stretchers. There is no lift or ramp in the three-storey building, and carrying the patients by stretchers through the staircase is the only option.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurated the new medicine ward building on February 7, 2008. “Carrying patients in stretcher through the staircase is an uphill task,” said Patra’s son K. Laxmi Narayan.

“The lift was not there in the original building plan. It must have a composite tender for the facilities of lift or ramp. The process has just started to construct the ramp and facilitate lift in the building,” said superintendent of the medical facility Ashok Kumar Behera today.

Public works department engineers have selected the space between the regional diagnostic centre and the paediatric ward to construct the ramp, he said.

In another development, assistant engineer of the works department’s building sub-division (Berhampur) Deepak Panigrahi said: “We have taken an advanced step of constructing a ramp to facilitate patients in the new medicine, orthopaedic and paediatric wards. The lift is useless on the second and third floors of orthopaedic and paediatric wards.”

“Though we have submitted proposal to the DMET to construct the ramp and it is under process, its construction has started since April 1 and it is expected to be over in six months after we received a nod from the higher authority,” said Panigrahi.

Another new ramp will be constructed in the indoor building where a ramp was built few decades ago. A total of Rs 46 lakh has been earmarked for both the ramps, he said.