With heat wave like conditions prevailing in the district, the Air Conditioners (ACs) installed in the OPDs of the associated hospital of Doon Medical College (DMC) are not providing any relief to the patients from sweltering heat as they are non functional. These ACs were installed about two months ago when the Doon hospital was being converted into an associated hospital of DMC however it appears that the hospital administration installed them just to keep the visiting team of Medical Council of India (MCI) in good humor.
There are about 50 OPDs in the hospital and barring the OPD of Surgery and orthopedics ACs are not functioning in any of the OPDs even though the summer is at its peak. The patients visiting the OPDs located in the second and third floor of the hospital have to suffer more as temperature there is much higher than in the wards located on the ground floor. Standing in a queue outside Neurology OPD located on I floor, Surendra Pokhriyal, a resident of Kargi chowck said that hospital authorities should have taken care to ensure that the ACs are functional. “Why these ACs are installed when they are not operational during peak summer period,’’ he asked. Needless to mention the Air Conditioners in the rooms of hospital officials remain fully operational throughout the day. This correspondent also found that in Plaster room and adjoining room of orthopedic surgeon, these energy guzzling machines were carelessly kept on even though no one was inside. When the correspondent visited to ultrasound centre then the ac was non functional for last several days. Ironically the room is very small and radiologist trying hard to get continue. To get some relief they quite often go outside his room so patients had to stay long despite konwing that weather is inimical.
The Medical Superintendent (MS) of the Hospital, Dr K K Tamta told The Pioneer that the ACs of the OPDs would be made operational once a transformer of higher capacity is installed. “We need a transformer of 1200 KW but at present a transformer of 400 KW capacity is installed.
The hospital has requested the UPCl to install the new transformer. If all the ACs are simultaneously made operational then the existing transformer would blow up due to overload,’’ he informed. Dr Tamta said that the ACs are functional in the emergency, ICU and Pediatric wards of the hospital.