Community health centre for Gurdaspur

Ravi Dhaliwal

Advertisement

Gurdaspur, December 16

Residents heaved a sigh of relief following the Health Department’s decision to set up a Community Health Centre (CHC-Urban), at the same place where the old hospital used to function before it was shifted in 2015.

Locals were feeling the pinch as they had to go to private hospitals for treatment or diagnostic tests. This was necessitated because the city was devoid of any government health facility after the Civil Hospital was relocated seven years ago to Babri village, 6 km away from the city on the Gurdaspur-Batala National Highway.

The decision to shift the hospital had the approval of the then SAD MLA Gurbachan Singh Babbehali. Patients were irked that they and their kin had to trudge such a long distance for their health needs.

At that time, several delegations of residents had met the then Health Minister seeking to relocate it to its original site but to no avail. Protests against the district administration had become the order of the day before they fizzled out in the face of the government’s reluctance to take back its decision.

Ever since the shifting, the old hospital building had been lying vacant. The decision to establish the CHC (Urban) was taken by the state Health Department after Raman Bahl, chairman of the Punjab Health Systems Corporation (PHSC), took up cudgels on behalf of the harried residents.

Keeping in view the sensitivity of the matter, Bahl convened a special press conference today to announce the decision. Dr Kulwinder Kaur, Civil Surgeon, too was present. The CHC will have the gynaecology, medicine, paediatrics and the surgery department, apart from the OPD and Emergency.

The shifting to Babri had become a major poll plank in the 2017 Assembly elections, the 2017 bypoll to the Gurdaspur parliamentary constituency and the 2019 General elections. Leaders of almost all political parties had promised to bring back the entity to its old address, but nothing tangible had been done.

Bahl said a major part of the old building would be reconstructed to adjust the new CHC. “Work has already started,” he said, adding, “By establishing the new CHC (Urban), a wrong committed seven years ago has been rectified.”