Sambalpur: Free Healthcare Illusion at Vimsar; Patients Forced to Pay for Surgery Equipment, “Free Outside, Paid Inside”
Sambalpur: There are complaints that the government’s free healthcare initiative is not working effectively at Vimsar. The hospital staff often force patients’ families to buy essential medical equipment for surgeries, especially in the orthopedics department, even though they are supposed to provide these services for free. Trusted sources claim that a large commission business is behind this practice.
Patients from various districts in western Odisha come to Vimsar for serious treatment, particularly in the orthopedics department. The hospital staff often targets these patients and asks them to purchase necessary surgical equipment from outside sources, despite claims that these items are unavailable at Vimsar. Taking advantage of this, intermediaries convince patients’ families to purchase the equipment from them at “affordable” prices while promising high quality.
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Stock Issues and Local Purchases
During orthopedic surgeries, essential items are supposed to be supplied by OSMCL (Odisha State Medical Corporation Limited). However, sometimes these items are not available in the hospital stock. Hospital authorities are authorized to make “local purchases” and provide these items to patients for free. However, reports indicate that hospital staff do not make genuine efforts to implement this arrangement effectively, and they simply tell patients to buy items from outside.
Impact on Poor Patients
Most of the patients coming to Vimsar belong to economically weaker sections. Even if they cannot afford the equipment, the hospital staff forces the patients’ families to buy it with borrowing money. The hospital superintendent, Dr. Lalmohan Nayak, addressed these concerns, stating that when such issues come to their attention, they try to resolve them. He assured me that if similar complaints arise from the orthopedics department again, they will take necessary action to address them.
