Residents await resumption of OPD services at Nerchowk hospital

Currently it is being used as a Covid facility

Dipender Manta

Tribune News Service

Mandi, February 7

After a significant downfall in number of Covid cases, residents are now awaiting resumption of OPD services at Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri Government Medical College & Hospital at Nerchowk in Mandi.

Currently the medical college is designated as Covid hospital, where OPD service has been suspended since March after Covid-19 outbreak. The hospital caters to patients from Mandi, Kullu, Lahaul-Spiti and Bilaspur. The patients are facing difficulty in availing better medical facilities.

According to official sources, now the zonal hospital is receiving heavy rush of patients daily. The hospital was receiving over 900 patients in their OPDs daily.

Dipak Sharma, a resident of Mandi, said “A significant downfall has been observed in Covid cases in the district, which is a good sign. Now we are awaiting resumption of OPD services at the Nerchowk hospital.”

“Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur had announced to shift the Covid hospital to a prefabricated building, which is under construction. We urge the Chief Minister to resume OPD services in the Nerchowk hospital soon. It will be a huge relief for us,” he added.

A majority of people in the district said they were facing a lot of difficulties in the absence of OPD services at the Nerchowk hospital.

Senior Congress leader Kaul Singh Thakur said, “The government should have earlier resumed the OPD services in the hospital. Due to their failure to shift the Covid hospital somewhere else, the residents of the district are suffering.”

DR RC Thakur, Principal, Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri Government Medical College & Hospital, said, “The construction work of the 100- bedded prefabricated building is under progress at Bhangrotu in Mandi, which is expected to be complete till March 15. As soon as it will be complete, the Covid hospital will be shifted to this building.”