For the villagers of Kalahandi district, the Vedanta Hospital in Lanjigarh has made quality healthcare accessible and affordable.
Purushottam Mishra, 49, who currently lives in Dahikhal in Rayagada district, suffered serious injuries on his upper right leg and knee area in a train accident two years ago. He was eventually operated upon for muscle repair and skin grafting at the MKCG MCH, Brahmapur, located over 200km away.
Recently, Mishra tripped over a stone,opening up a painful abscess in the same foot. His brother-in-law, who works as an electrician at the local Vedanta plant at Lanjigarh advised him to visit the Vedanta Hospital in Lanjigarh. After two weeks of treatment at the hospital, Mishra is fit to walk normally, and couldn’t be happier for the quality of medical care and treatment he received there.
In Kalahandi district, advanced healthcare has often been hard to come by for its rural residents. The Vedanta Hospital, started in November 2010 is a welcome facility in this remote area with 20 bedsand two ambulances. Around 85 per cent of the beneficiaries Vedanta Hospital services are from the villages nearby.
The hospital today serves around 6,000 patients every month across its various departments –in Patient Department (IPD), pathology, ECG, X-ray, dental, paediatrics, orthopaedics, ophthalmology and physiotherapy, etc.
Vedanta Hospital also runs a Mobile Health Unit (MHU)to ensure that those living in remote, difficult and underserved areas receive access to public healthcare at their doorstep.
The MHU operates with a dedicated team comprising a doctor, a pharmacist, an ANM(Auxiliary Nurse Midwifery), an attendant and a driver. Last year, the MHU team at Lanjigarh made 725 visits across eight Gram Panchayats, attending to over 13,000 patients.
During the last financial year, 442 people (largely senior citizens) who were identified by the MHU team, underwent cataract surgery in partnership with Mahanadi Netra Chikitsalaya.