Story of a Hospital..........

As you enter my premises, a lot of billboards will catch your attention (or maybe not!) The boards all are put there in order to catch the attention of the general public. (I guess no one is general in this age; it’s the world of VIP people now) It is important to make people realise the need to take up family planning, measures to prevent AIDS and opt for institutional deliveries (I do hope you know what I mean EXACTLY). I can come to each term one by one for you. I have been trying to do that for a long time now, still people can’t seem to place what exactly I mean!

Lets come to Family Planning first, it must be the most debatable topic of the health field where we talk about the “Basket of choices” to the beneficiaries ie we talk about offering eligible couples;15-49 of age (who caters to the ones who get pregnant before that, is what I still think about!) all kinds of methods of spacing and limiting. But only what our health workers at facilities and outreach talk about is female sterilization (This I could not understand until I came to know that there is an incentive attached to THAT procedure!) What amazes me is that on the “Family planning operation day” (usually a Thursday) one can see a huge line, you can spot women of all ages here! And if you interact with them, you would come to know that perhaps they have about 4-5 children in their family already (Come to think of that; they have already overdue their share of producing babies!)  And my so called “Hospital Manager” (I rather call him a blind horse) who runs my management; closes his eyes and runs after only the performance indicators! It sure is a sad story, that even after all that work which is shown happening, it still remains a big zero!

Let’s come to HIV now; I guess everyone knows about AIDS today. But still there are cases when the pregnant women, not tested in her gestational period come and deliver at my doorstep. After a few hours, the pathology department comes to know that she was HIV+ve and the nurses who operated upon her seem to be half dead! It is a well known fact that HIV spreads from +ve mother to child during breastfeeding; but the sad debate is still on that whether the child should be allowed to die due to Malnutrition which is practically about 100% in our country or exposed to the infection of HIV from the mother through breastfeeding which would be a slim chance! We have very difficult choices to make sometimes………….

The story of delivery is another chapter in my life! I was once the pride of Patna (Capital of Bihar; it sure is the capital in terms of its electricity coverage with availability of 63% of the electricity of the whole Bihar in one city itself!).

I was running as Nalanda Medical College Hospital with loads of busy bustling students and patients in and out. At that time, I was also the best running maternity home in the heart of the city (I guess I am situated in the centre left too!) It was about the load of 300-450 deliveries in a month and I was a proud parent of so many young lives. But then the demon of corruption diseased my Medical officers, who preferred to take the patients to my small look-alikes called Private Nursing homes. The animal called doctor seemed to just disappear from my OT and wards!

With shifting of the Medical College to another location, I was like an orphan! No one would claim me! My building was in shambles and there used to be only dogs in and around my compound. I felt that perhaps the end was near when my building would be broken and a “Fancy Mall” would be made in my place. (I have heard that is what is happening to all the old buildings now)

It has been quite a journey; I am an old man now! So is the Gulmohar tree in my compound which was once very green; and in the times of spring you could not even spot a leave on it, it was so full of lovely red flowers. But it is dry and old today; but you know what? I spotted a few green leaves on it the other day. My story too goes in the same fashion…………..Voila! My prayers were answered! Some young IAS took notice of me and asked for my renovation (that is the reason I love the young, young from ideas!). I was to be repaired and whitewashed-white and red (as Hospital Code, you see!) Now as you look at me I shine like a new coin, just out of the mine!

I hold the dream of being a super speciality hospital of Eye Care now! (I don’t know why Eye care?) Anyways I guess now I would be offering eyes to all the “Blind People” in and around me! (I hope I can also cure the blindness and lameness of our system too; for that perhaps I have to take help from my friend hospital; who is super speciality in Orthopaedic!)