Months of Suffering for Women as KNH's Future Remains in Limbo. Where is committee report? Patients ask the CM.
SHIMLA: Months after the controversial shifting of Obstetrics and Gynaecol8ogy (OBG) services from Kamla Nehru Hospital (KNH) to IGMC, women patients continue to suffer in silence. Expectant mothers, high-risk pregnancy cases and women with serious gynaecological ailments are being forced to shuttle between the two hospitals, turning access to healthcare into a frustrating ordeal in traffic hazards and choas in the Shimla city.
A split department has created a healthcare mess. Doctors point out that Obstetrics and Gynaecology is a single integrated department dedicated to women's healthcare across the world.
In Shimla, however, the department is functioning from two separate locations, leading to delays, confusion, inconvenience and health hazards for patients.
The burden is falling on women. "We never had it so bad" is cry of each woman patients but not enough to wake up the insensitive government and health secretary whose name has become popular among health care professionals for the wrong reasons.
Patients often have to move between KNH and IGMC for consultations, investigations and admissions.
Doctors say waiting times for reports and surgeries have increased, while overcrowding has added to the hardships faced by women and their families.
Medical resources are being stretched thin. With the same strength of doctors and healthcare staff divided between KNH and IGMC, healthcare professionals claim patient care as well as postgraduate teaching have suffered.
They argue that splitting a specialised department has weakened services at both institutions.
The future of KNH remains shrouded in uncertainty. Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has yet to clearly spell out the government's plans for the state's premier mother and child hospital, KNH which is more than 102 years old.
Though a committee was constituted to examine the issue amid public protests, its report is yet to be made public, leaving patients, doctors and residents in the dark.
Residents fear the gradual dismantling of KNH. They argue that despite strong opposition from patients, staff and civil society groups, the government has continued with decisions that have reduced patient footfall and weakened a hospital that was developed over decades as Himachal Pradesh's flagship mother and child healthcare institution.
Political silence has raised uncomfortable questions. Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur, BJP president Dr Rajiv Bindal, local MLA Harish Janartha, former MLA Suresh Bhardwaj and senior ministers Vikramaditya Singh, Anirudh Singh and Rohit Thakur have largely remained silent as the controversy drags on.
Residents say the issue has exposed the gap between political rhetoric on women's welfare and the reality on the ground.
Residents and women's organisations have vowed to continue the battle. Resident doctors, healthcare workers and Janvadi Mahila organisations, which have approached the High Court seeking restoration of OBG services at KNH, have pledged to take the fight to its conclusion.
They maintain that the hospital must continue as a full-fledged mother and child healthcare centre serving women from across the state.
The High Court case has become a test of public healthcare priorities. Petitioners reveal that the issue goes beyond administrative restructuring and concerns the future of accessible and affordable healthcare for women.
They contend that decisions affecting a specialised institution like KNH should be guided by patient welfare rather than administrative convenience.
For women patients, the suffering continues. As the legal battle unfolds and uncertainty persists, thousands of women continue to bear the consequences of a decision that has transformed a dedicated mother and child hospital into the centre of one of Himachal Pradesh's most contentious healthcare controversies.
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