Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, May 14: JKPCC vice president and former Minister Raman Bhalla today expressed serious concern over handling of COVID-19 situation in J&K by both Union Government and LG Administration and demanded that GB Pant Cantonment Hospital be dedicated for non-COVID patients.
On a visit to GB Pant Cantonment Hospital at Satwari, Bhalla today slammed Government for not making proper use of the Hospital which could have been a great asset for non-COVID patients after prominent hospitals have already been converted into COVID hospitals following surge in COVID cases in J&K.
He said the hospital is still functioning as first-aid center despite the fact that it is 35-bedded hospital at the prime location on National Highway near Satwari Chowk on 14 kanals land. Bhalla said that nearly Rs 1.20 crore is being spent by the Central Government on the salary of the staff in this hospital annually but despite having adequate staff and medical equipments worth lakhs, needy patients are deprived of the benefit of this hospital.
Bhalla demanded LG Administration to use GB Pant Cantonment hospital, Satwari for the benefit of poor and needy Jammu patients. He said after normal working hours, no one is found in this hospital to offer medical facilities here for emergency. The patients are advised to go to Gandhi Nagar or GMC at Bakshi Nagar.
He said LG Administration should re-employ retired doctors and deploy final year MBBS students to deal with the shortage of medical staff amid the surging COVID-19 cases in this hospital to relieve non COVID patients. He demanded administration to extend services of existing medical staff at Government hospitals to mitigate the manpower crisis.
Bhalla said the Government Medical College—a premier hospital that caters to the whole of the Jammu division of Jammu and Kashmir—has been in disarray for the last few months. The hospital, located in Jammu city, has had severe deficiencies in infrastructure and manpower shortages even as COVID-19 cases in the division, which comprises ten districts, surged. The situation at the GMC is a reflection of the UT administration’s lack of preparedness for the Novel Coronavirus pandemic, added Bhalla.
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