Special report: Part 1 of 3
From Biplab Kr Dey
BAGHMARA (SGH), Oct 22: South Garo Hills (SGH) district is one the most naturally gifted parts of the entire country. The district has a population close to 2 lakh and is divided into four C&RD Blocks. It is also rich in natural resources including coal, which has helped fill the coffers of the state since its discovery.
It is also the district that produced the first Chief Minister of the state of Meghalaya, Capt. Williamson A Sangma, and boasts of natural beauty like no other in the Garo Hills region. It borders neighbouring Bangladesh and is considered remote.
However, owing to decades of neglect, the district has been one of the least wanted places to go to, with roads being the worst in the entire state – if not the whole country. This systemic neglect is visible also in the state of healthcare that the district provides with the Baghmara Civil Hospital (BCH) bearing testimony to this fact.
Introduction
The Baghmara Civil Hospital is the only 100-bed hospital in the entire district. It is the go-to healthcare facility for close to 2.2 lakh residents that live in the district. The district, which has serious issues of infrastructure, has just a few Primary Health Centres (PHCs) with the lone Community Health Centre (CHC) in the village of Chokpot. While the PHCs, except for the one at Siju and Nongalbibra, operate with just a single doctor, the CHC in Chokpot has 4 doctors as per district sources.
The entire medical infrastructure is in no way adequate to cater to the population with the situation in the district headquarter of Baghmara, being the biggest example of the inadequacy.
Infrastructure
The BCH has three main structures which stand as the hospital as it is today. The newest section, which was completed recently is yet to be inaugurated though it is currently being used as an Operation Theatre (OT). It has one OT room with two beds, a psychiatry ward and was set up at a cost of just over Rs 3 crore.
The second is the main section of the hospital with the 100-bed facility along with the various stores, labs as well as the Out Patient Department (OPD) section. The OPD section handles at least 70-80 patients on a daily basis. The facility has the Ultrasound, Radiology, X-Ray and other sections. It is also the same building which housed the earlier 30 bedded CHC which was converted to a Civil Hospital in the year 2012.
With the conversion, the entire hospital should have had 130 beds but for some apparent reason, 30 beds were cut off.
A tour of the facility along with social activist, Greneth Sangma, revealed most parts of the old hospital literally in tatters. The concrete on the walls were mostly damaged and scratched with repairs being taken up by a Tura based contractor as well as the DRDA office.
While the work of the Tura contractor has been up to the mark in most aspect, the repair done by the DRDA office contractor has left everyone fuming. “They have set up tiles after the walls were damaged but the quality is abysmal. The tiles, when knocked upon sound hollow which means that not enough cement has been added. Further many sections of the floor have been completely roughed up.
Being the only major hospital in the district, the care shown by the state medical authorities to the infrastructure is pathetic to say the least,” felt Greneth.
While the hospital may be 100 bedded one, the lack of basic facilities is stark.
“There is an utter lack of patient facilities including toilets. Can you believe that there are only 2 working toilets in the entire hospital? The rest of the restrooms, even animal will not dare venture. Most patients have to go outside the ward to the public toilets that are meant for the general public. The new ones are yet to be ready. This is actually shameful,” felt Greneth.
Earlier viral photos and videos of the BCH had been doing the rounds showing overflowing toilets, leaking roofs and windows and clear apathy to what was being faced by patients. Their condition, as per hospital sources, was beyond pathetic. In fact another new septic tank that was set up just two years ago, broke down last year leading to an unbearable stench. Water from these facilities even flowed into the rooms of doctors and nurses – a scene straight out of a nightmare.
The situation for patients is so bad that desperate ones have dumped feces and urinated on the floor for the lack of toilets.
Earlier, issues with the lack of water had been paramount with complaints from all quarters coming of its inadequacy. The issue was raised with the deputy commissioner as well and a decision to bore for water was made. However the quality of the water from the bore-well was so bad that it damaged medical equipment, stained the laundry and did more damage than solve problems. Currently water is being supplied by the PHE though it is in no way adequate to the requirements of the hospital. A nearby stream is also used though this dries up in the winter months.
The problem of water shortage at the hospital is yet to receive a long term solution and the battle for clean water has continued for those employed or using the hospital’s facilities.
The worst part of the issue of infrastructure is the utter lack of facilities – be it ambulances or equipment to handle them.
“Can you imagine that to cater to over 2.2 lakh people, the BCH has a mind boggling 1 ambulance? That’s how bad things are. While there are 3 ambulances in the premises, 2 have broken down since ages with the only working one doing non-stop duty. This ambulance was provided by the former MLA of Baghmara, Samuel Sangma. There are also no private ambulances in Baghmara that can be used. So in case of multiple emergencies, we are at our wits end on how to resolve the situation,” said a doctor on condition of anonymity.
The hospital currently has labs but only 20-30 tests of the 96 ordained for a Civil Hospital can be done due to the lack of manpower and facilities.
Interestingly, there is only one 108 ambulance in the entire district of South Garo Hills.
