Patients and staff endure uncertainty as Margao UHC relocates for third time

With repairs to the Margao Urban Health Centre still not complete, operations there have been shifted from one premises to another, with the services now shifted to the South Goa District Hospital.

Photo Credits: The Goan

MARGAO
The ordeal faced by patients availing health services at the Margao Urban Health Centre, as well as the doctors and staff, seems far from over.

With no sign of the repair work on the heritage Urban Health Centre building coming to an early end, and the unsafe building in the old Hospicio complex giving sleepless nights to patients and staff, Margao Urban Health Centre’s operations have been shifted once again. This time, they have been moved to the South Goa district hospital building. This means that citizens will have to travel to the South district hospital for OPD as well as immunisation services previously provided by the Health Centre in the city.

In fact, strange though it may seem, it is true that this is the third time in the last 16 months that the Margao Urban Health Centre’s operations have been shifted to different premises since the façade of the heritage building housing the Urban Health Centre collapsed on July 8, 2023.

After the collapse of the building, the Urban Health Centre was first shifted to the adjoining old Hospicio building, lock, stock, and barrel. Some months later, the services were again shifted to the Hospicio heritage building after the collapse of the chajja (eaves) of the building housing the Health Centre in the Hospicio complex.

What has now prompted the shifting of the Health Centre to the South Goa district hospital was a request made by the Health Officer to consider relocating the services, given that pieces of debris have been falling down from an unsafe building standing tall in the old Hospicio complex.

“In the interest of the patients and the health staff, the Health Centre had applied to the Director of Health Services to shift the services to the South district hospital. The Director was kind enough to accede to the request,” informed sources at the Margao Urban Health Centre.

Sources further said that Out Patient Department (OPD) services of the Urban Health Centre have already been shifted to the South district hospital. The Health Centre will operate from the fourth floor of the district hospital. Besides OPD, the immunisation of children will now take place at the district hospital.

When contacted, the Medical Superintendent of Hospicio South Goa district hospital, Dr Rajendra Borkar, told The Goan that the administration has offered space on the fourth floor of the hospital building to set up the Health Centre. He said the Urban Health Centre had been shifted to the district hospital as per a communiqué from the Directorate of Health Services.

Relocation paves way for demolition of unsafe structures in Hospicio

While the Margao Urban Health Centre has been moved from the old Hospicio to the district hospital building for the safety of patients, health officials, and staff, sources in the know have informed that the relocation will pave the way for the demolition of the old and unsafe buildings in the old Hospicio complex.

With Health Minister Vishwajit Rane unveiling plans to set up a nursing college at the old Hospicio complex, sources said the administration has drawn up plans to raze the unsafe buildings in the complex, with the exception of the heritage Hospicio building.

In fact, a three-storey old Hospicio building, which had once hosted the casualty and the wards, was declared unsafe over half a decade ago. A visit to the old Hospicio complex would reveal that the unsafe building is secured with tin sheets to prevent debris from falling on the pathway used by staff and security personnel.

If sources are to be believed, the unsafe building could not be razed over the past year and a half due to the huge cost involved in the demolition operation.

Urban Health officials, however, pointed out that the area turned unsafe when pieces of debris started falling from the unsafe building. “Before the debris could injure the patients and staff, we decided to request the Director of Health Services to shift the Health Centre to the district hospital,” remarked a Health official.

Sixteen months on, repairs of heritage building drag on
When will the PWD complete the repair work of the Margao Urban Health Centre’s heritage building? This is a question being asked by both citizens and health officials.

It is now almost 16 months since the front portion of the building collapsed on July 8, 2023, but the repairs to the heritage building have yet to be completed.

Both doctors and staff of the Urban Health Centre anxiously await the return of operations to the old heritage building. “It’s indeed strange that repairs to the façade of the Margao Urban Health Centre have not been completed to date. We have no idea why there has been a delay of 16 months just to repair the façade,” remarked a health staff member.

The staff member added: “In the interest of the safety of the patients and staff, the Health Centre has now been shifted to the district hospital building. But just imagine, patients and the general public will have to travel all the way to the district building, especially for the immunisation of children. We hope the authorities complete the repair work on the Health Centre building at the earliest.”