New Delhi: The Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Hospital, Chhattisgarh’s largest government facility, has stopped the open-heart surgeries for the last four months due to a shortage of crucial reagents. The situation has placed a huge hardship on economically disadvantaged patients, who are now forced to seek costly private medical care.
The reagents, essential for conducting tests before and during heart surgeries, are currently not available at the Raipur-based hospital. The hospital serves as an important healthcare provider in one of India’s more impoverished states.
Desperate patients seek private care
Due to this crisis, many patients who depend on government healthcare are facing severe challenges. Madan Gopal, a security guard from Korba district, has been navigating between hospitals in search of treatment. His family was eventually forced to take out loans to afford surgery at a private facility, an NDTV report said.
“We were initially referred to Raipur AIIMS and then to Ambedkar Hospital, only to find out that surgeries were suspended there. After another visit to AIIMS, we learnt that the wait time was too long for my father’s condition, so we are now scrambling to secure funds for private care,” said Ankush Kumar, Gopal’s son, referring to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.
Patients’ lives at stake
The Ambedkar Hospital, which typically performs 30 to 40 heart surgeries every month, is experiencing a severe impact from the reagent shortage in its advanced cardiac department. Dr KK Sahu, head of the advanced cardiac department, said, “Without the reagent, it is impossible to properly monitor the heart-lung machine, which is critical for keeping the patient stable during the surgery. This puts the patient’s survival at risk.”
The state government has promised a resolution within a week. The Health Minister Shyam Bihari Jaiswal said, “Necessary equipment has been approved for procurement. The outdated system is being replaced, and the dean will be authorised to purchase equipment up to Rs 25 lakh, with emergency purchases allowed up to Rs 5 lakh.”
Despite government assurances of improved healthcare services in public hospitals, the suspension of surgeries at Ambedkar Hospital due to reagent shortages raises major concerns. Health experts said that if such disruptions can occur in Raipur, the situation in other parts of Chhattisgarh could be even more concerning.
