Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has effected an administrative reshuffle in medical institutions in the state, including SCB Medical College and Hospital (MCH) in Cuttack.
According to a notification issued by the Health & Family Welfare Department on March 22, Dean and Principal of SCB MCH Lucy Das has been reassigned to the vacant post of Professor in the Department of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery at the medical college. She will continue in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Prativa Panda, formerly Dean and Principal of Pandit Raghunath Murmu (PRM) Medical College in Baripada, will replace her. Additionally, Jyotish Chandra Choudhury, Professor and Head of the Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology (FMT) at SCB MCH, has been appointed as Superintendent of the medical college.
Similarly, Nirmal Chandra Mohapatra, Professor and Head of the Department of Orthopaedics at SCB, has been appointed as the new Dean and Principal of PRM Medical College, Baripada.
The reshuffle also includes faculty transfers in the Orthopaedics department. Dr Satyajit Ray, Professor of Orthopaedics at Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sundargarh, has been transferred and posted as Professor of Orthopaedics at SCB MCH. Tapas Kumar Panigrahi, Associate Professor of Orthopaedics at Maharaja Krushna Chandra Gajapati (MKCG) Medical College and Hospital in Berhampur, who was on deputation at SCB MCH, has been transferred and posted as Associate Professor of Orthopaedics at GMCH, Sundargarh.
These transfers have come amid a fire mishap in the ICU of Trauma Centre of SCB MCH on March 16, which claimed the lives of 13 patients. The incident continues to rock the Odisha Assembly, which has been witnessing stalemate over the past week, with the Opposition demanding immediate resignation of the Health Minister Mukesh Mahaling, citing administrative negligence.
