The announcement of Chief Minister Harish Rawat that the erstwhile Doon hospital would regain its earlier status of the district hospital and a new associated hospital of Government Doon Medical College (GDMC) would be built at the Niranjanpur Mandi on Saharanpur Road cleared confusion about the status of district hospital in the State capital.
The CM made this announcement while speaking during the foundation stone laying ceremony of new OPD Block of Associated hospital of GDMC on Wednesday.
The declaration of the CM assumes importance as there were divergent views and statement on the future of the district hospital and associated hospital. The erstwhile Doon hospital and Doon female hospital- which were district male and female hospitals respectively- were merged with the Doon Medical College last year when the question of MCI recognition for medical college arose.
The MCI mandates that a hospital of 300 beds should be the part of medical college. In November last year these district hospitals were transferred to the medical education department from health department. The department undertook an extensive renovation and construction activity in the hospital campus. A new Operation Theatre (OT) and emergency block with a budget of Rs 129 crore is coming up in the hospital campus and a new OPD block is being constructed at a cost of Rs 45 crore. The general impression was that the government would continue with the present plan of associated medical college hospital and would convert either Coronation or Premnagar hospital into district hospital. These assumptions were strengthened by the expenditure the government is making on infrastructure of the hospital. However the CM on Wednesday rested all such speculations and announced that the existing Niranjanpur Mandi would be translocated to some other place and a new hospital which would be the associated hospital of the medical college would be constructed there.
The Doon hospital and women hospital would regain their status of district hospital. It also became evident that the state capital would remain devoid of any district hospital till a new hospital building comes up at Niranjanpur mandi. The announcement of the CM has met with skepticism from some quarters. “The Government has spent Crores of rupees in converting the Doon hospital into associated hospital of medical college and the CM has now declared that new hospital would be constructed by shifting the Mandi which is ridiculous and wastage of money and resources,’’ said one a senior medical officer of state health services.