Berhampur, Oct. 20: Authorities of the MKCG Medical College and Hospital have yet to vacate the three-storey indoor building, which the public works department declared unsafe in September 2012, thereby putting patients at risk.

"We had declared the building unsafe after an inspection by the works department's chief engineer on September 8, 2012. The chief engineer had suggested that the authorities should take steps to vacate the entire building in a phased manner," said roads and building division's executive engineer Binod Kumar Padhi.

Principal Arun Kumar Dandapat said the old building would be vacated shortly after completing construction of six new buildings.

"At present, some departments such as gynaecology, paediatrics and paediatric surgery on the ground floor, surgery, plastic surgery, urology and nephrology on the first floor and ENT, cardiothoracic, cardiology, some orthopaedics and medicine are operational on the second floor of the old building. We will shift the wards to the new buildings shortly," he said.

However, other departments have already been shifted from the old building in a phased manner, Dandapat said.

The old hospital building can accommodate 1,081 patients in 24 departments with 200 doctors and 400 nurses and Class IV employees working there.

Dr Rasananda Mangual of the surgery said: "We spend each day in the indoor building in panic. But, caring for the patients is important and we ensure that it is not jeopardised."

The state-run MKCG started functioning in 1962.

Twelve new buildings on the hospital premises have been built in the past two years for Rs 216 crore. Chief minister Naveen Patnaik inaugurated six of those buildings on October 3. The remaining six will be opened in December where the departments in the old indoor building are to be shifted, said Kumar.