Demand For Central Takeover Of SAIL-Run Rourkela Hospital

Rourkela: There has been a demand for a central takeover of Ispat General Hospital (IGH) here even as SAIL is looking for a prospective private partner to run it as a corporate hospital.

The demand comes at a time when the first-phase project for upgradation of IGH into a super speciality hospital and medical college is set for completion.

CITU national vice-president Bishnu Mohanty said there is no justification of handing over the hospital to a private agency and make treatments costlier.

“As SAIL has initiated efforts to privatise Ispat Post-Graduate Medical Institute and Super Speciality Hospital (IPGMI-SSH), we demand that it should be taken over by the Centre and made part of AIIMS, Bhubaneswar. This will benefit the district along with eight neighbouring districts and bordering pockets of Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh by making advanced treatment facility accessible to all people,” Mohanty said.

Echoing a similar view, AAP member Sanjay Singh said the hospital needs to be managed professionally and made autonomous under the Centre like the government-run AIIMS or the ones functioning in Chandigarh, Lucknow and Puducherry.

“A PPP model comprising a corporate hospital may not be able to provide affordable treatment to masses. Moreover, competent super specialists may not join SAIL as its pay benefits may not attract them,” he added.