Chamba’s healthcare in dire straits; staff shortage paralyses hospitals

Hospitals in Chamba district are facing a severe shortage of doctors and other staff and a system stretched to the breaking point. Information accessed under the RTI Act in early November 2025 revealed a shocking picture — most of the health institutions in Chamba are running with nearly half of their sanctioned staff and in some blocks even less. In the remote areas of Bharmour, Tissa and Pangi, the public health institutions represent empty buildings, vacant posts and overburdened medical workers trying to hold together what remains.

Chamba district has a total of 236 health institutions in seven blocks — seven Civil Hospitals, five Community Health Centres (CHC), 46 Primary Health Centres (PHC) and 178 Sub-Centres.

The crisis is so deep that of the total 159 sanctioned posts of Medical Officer in the district, 59 are still vacant, mostly in remote and far-flung areas. The data provided in response to the RTI application is related to period till November 10.

In Bharmour block, more than half of the sanctioned posts of Medical Officer are lying vacant. The Civil Hospital there is running with just three doctors of the 11 posts. In Tissa block, nine of 21 posts of doctor are vacant and the Civil Hospital is functioning without eight of the 14 doctors needed. Similarly, in the Civil Hospital at Kihar, eight of the 10 posts of Medical Officer are vacant and in the Civil Hospital, Salooni, five of eight posts are vacant. In Pangi’s Killar block, nearly half the sanctioned posts of Medical Officer are vacant.

If there is a shortage of doctors, the strength of nurses is almost dismal. In the district, 85 of 125 sanctioned posts of staff nurse are vacant. The Civil Hospital, Tissa, has just five nurses against the sanctioned strength of 22. The Civil Hospital, Kihar, and the Civil Hospital, Salooni, are functioning with one staff nurse though they have 13 sanctioned posts each.

At the TB Hospital in Chamba, all nine posts of nurse are vacant, leaving the facility without the basic manpower required to take care of patients. But the deepest wounds appear at the grass-roots level, where health services are most critical. The shortage of male health workers responsible for primary outreach and community-level care has reached a crisis level. Of the total 178 sanctioned posts in the district, 168 are vacant. The count of female health workers, the backbone of maternal and child health services, is only marginally better as 153 of 186 sanctioned posts are vacant. In Killar block alone, almost every village-level sub-centre operates without both male and female health workers, rendering them effectively non-functional.

The RTI documents also reveal sweeping gaps in technical and paramedical staff. Chamba does not have even one Ophthalmic Officer and all 11 sanctioned posts are vacant. Laboratory services are crippled, as 45 of 54 sanctioned posts of Medical Lab Technician Grade-II are vacant. Surgical care remains severely restricted as nine of the 10 posts of Operation Theatre Assistant are vacant and diagnostic imaging is affected by the shortage of radiographers. Even pharmacy services are strained as the posts of both Pharmacy Officer and Chief Pharmacy Officer are vacant.