Highs, lows marked Health sector’s performance

The year 2024 has been a year of displacement, disappointment and protests for the health sector in the city, peppered with some triumphs. The status quo at the 500-bedded Civil Hospital in Jalandhar was upended with the shifting of its historic Civil Surgeon’s office to make way for a critical care centre. The offices of various departments (housed inside the Civil Surgeon’s office) were shifted to other smaller buildings, where employees moved to, after a number of protests both before the shifting (by staff) and after shifting (by residents). They have now been settled in these offices for months though.

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While staff shortage and need for upgrade in health infrastructure were among the issues that weighed heavy on the health sector, the year ended with the Punjab State Human Rights Commission seeking a formal report from the Civil Surgeon, Jalandhar, on delayed intimation to the police regarding the identification of an abandoned patient who died at the hospital.

Drastic air pollution levels, especially toward the end of the year, also affected the respiratory health of citizens.

The silver lining in the cloud of sordid healthcare remained the relative success in the management of dengue and other vector-borne diseases, which remained largely in control in Jalandhar as compared to neigbouring Kapurthala which witnessed a major diarrhoea outbreak this year.

Critical Care Unit

Ninety staff members, including the Civil Surgeon, along with countless district records dating back to the 1940s, found a designated place in scattered offices this year amidst the demolition of the Civil Surgeon’s office in Jalandhar. In place of the CS office, a multi-crore, five-storeyed, 100-bedded Critical Care Centre will come up, which promises state-of-the-art facilities and healthcare for the largest civil hospital in the state. It is expected to bring much needed special wings for cardio and neuro care, for which the civil hospital formerly lacked the infrastructure. The CCU, proposed under the Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission, will be built at an estimated cost of Rs 30 to Rs 40 crore.

It will have a ground floor spanning 17,000 square feet and house isolation rooms, isolation wards, blood bank, MCH block, Labour Delivery Recovery and High Dependency Unit facilities, two OTs, ICU, X-ray, nursing and doctor rooms and is expected to come up within a year to 15 months.

Following the shifting of the staff, the demolition of the British-era Civil Surgeon’s building and the axing of over twenty 50 to 70-year-old trees around it, also invited aggressive protests from residents and activists, with the matter even reaching the National Green Tribunal (NGT).

Disease control and care for abandoned

Timely sampling surveys, surveillance and larvae collection drives in Jalandhar kept dengue cases under check in Jalandhar this year. Dengue numbers in Jalandhar remained at 127 until the first fortnight of December. Meanwhile, Kapurthala also saw a diarrhoea outbreak this year, with four deaths reported due to the disease. Jalandhar did not witness an outbreak, except for sporadic cases reported during the peak summer from several areas.

The year came to a close with the Punjab State Human Rights Commission (PSHRC) asking the Civil Surgeon, Jalandhar, as well as the Commissioner of Police to submit a report on an abandoned patient whose identification was sought from the police after an inordinate delay by the health authorities in Jalandhar. A patient had died at the Jalandhar Civil Hospital in May but the authorities informed the police 50 days later for identification. The Civil Surgeon has been asked to submit a report a week before February 6, 2025, the next date of hearing.