KOKRAJHAR: Kokrajhar Medical College and Hospital (KMCH) and RN Brahma Civil Hospital, Kokrajhar were in the news in various media houses recently taking the issue of shifting of doctors, nurses, para-medical staff and equipment as well as merging up the six departments of RN Brahma Civil Hospital with the KMCH. The civil societies, organizations, former public representatives and citizens of Kokrajhar joined the series of protest programmes in front of the civil hospital demanding continuation of its services with the same status. The heat of the protest reached the BTC assembly as the issue brought ruckus between the ruling and the opposition.
The ruling of BTC convinced that the KMCH was in an infant stage to acquire all facilities in a year of inauguration and according to norms of the National Medical Council, the flow of daily patients including OPD should be 800 in Medical College and Hospitals but the number of visitors at KMCH are very low for which the decision to shift the departments and medical staff of the RN Brahma Civil Hospital was taken for a certain period.
However, the opposition in their counter argument said that the decision of increasing the number of visitors in the KMCH by closing down or shifting the RN Brahma Civil Hospital to KMCH should not be the sole aim of the government and by closing down the civil hospital, the number of patients in KMCH would not be increasing unless the government ensures sufficient doctors, para-medical staff, equipment and quality services. They said that the flow of patients will automatically increase if the government provides all facilities and quality services in the first place instead of the ridiculous decision of closing down the existing civil hospital in Kokrajhar. They further said that the KMCH being a newly established college and hospital had a separate entity and separate budget and thus, the government must ensure facilities and services.
Meanwhile, the superintendent of the KMCH Dr Bhubaneswar Saikia, while talking to the visiting media persons on Thursday said that the flow of patients had been increasing remarkably since last month. He said that the KMCH had strength of 91 doctors for Medicine, Gynaecology, Paediatrics, ENT, Psychiatry, Dermatology, Dental, Ortho and Surgery departments but there is some lack of para-medical staff and Radiologists to operate CT scan, X-Ray machines and ICUs etc. He said that the Ultrasonography, Laparoscopic and ECG machines were functional, surgery of different diseases are done and the post mortem is also done in the KMCH.
The additional superintendent of the KMCH Dr Anupal Sarma and deputy superintendent Dr Amit Kr. Mushahary, while sharing the current status and functioning of the KMCH said that there had been sufficient strength of doctors for Medicine, Gynaecology, Paediatrics, ENT, Psychiatry, Dermatology, Dental, Ortho and Surgery departments but required more para-medical staff and Radiologists to operate CT scan, X-Ray machines and ICU etc. They also said that due to lack of para-medical staff and technicians, the 52 ICUs (36 for adults and the rest for the children and pregnant women) were not in use. They further said that the visit of patients in the KMCH has been increasing since last month and at least four wards (2 males and 2 females), are filled up every day. They further said that the number of 108 services in the state was not adequate to meet the demands and the number of the 108 services should be enhanced for better services to the people of remote places.
On the other hand, for better connectivity of rural people with the KMCH, the government of BTR has started bus services and other public carriers from different locations to make communication easier to Kokrajhar via KMCH. The buses from Datgari and Saralpara from the Bhutan border come to Kokrajhar passing through KMCH and other services also pass through KMCH for better connection to avail medical facilities.
The decades-long demand for the establishment of a Medical College in Kokrajhar came into reality after the BTC accord. The Kokrajhar Medical College and Hospital (KMCH) in Assam was formally inaugurated on April 14, 2023 virtually by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi from AIIMS, Guwahati. The KMCH aims to enhance the healthcare facilities and medical education in the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR). The college offers an intake of 100 MBBS students per year and is equipped with modern facilities, including a 500-bed hospital. The KMCH has obtained approval for 2nd batch admission from the National Medical Commission (NMC) on May 15.
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