Berhampur: Lack of space has emerged as an impediment for infrastructure development at the City Hospital here.

Last year, the government had declared the health care centre as a satellite unit of the MKCG Medical College and Hospital. "The hospital, located on three acres, caters to 800 to 1,200 outdoor patients on an average every month," said Ganjam's chief district medical officer Saroj Kumar Mishra. The maternity ward alone witnesses 350 to 400 patients a month. Of them, 80 to 100 undergo caesarean section, which requires a lengthy stay at the hospital.

"We have 32 departments, including all the specialised ones, and a help desk. The inflow of outdoor patients is increasing. The figure went from 1.63 lakh in 2011-12 to 2.71 lakh in 2015-16," Mishra said.

Mishra said it had been decided that some dilapidated buildings on the hospital premises would be demolished to overcome the space crunch.

With the government sanctioning Rs 9.76 crore from the Mukhya Mantri Swasthya Seva mission to boost infrastructure and facilities at the hospital, it will now have a new five-storey building with 163 beds, a 10-bed intensive care unit, trauma care centre and an administrative building. "The ground floor of the new building would be around 8,500sqft. The building will have elevators and fire safety measures. The tenders will be floated once the detailed project report is prepared," he said.

"We also plan to increase the capacity of the 30-bed maternity ward to 50 and expand the labour room. The government has already sanctioned Rs 2.8 crore for the purpose," he said.

Undergraduate students of the Biju Patnaik Homoeopathic Medical College in Berhampur and the Kaviraj Ananta Tripathy Sharma Ayurveda College and Hospital at Ankushpur intern at the hospital, while postgraduate students and house surgeons from the MKCG come for a week in batches to treat the patients.