Bhubaneswar: As many as 134 medical machines across three major government hospitals in Odisha are lying non-functional due to mechanical faults, Health and Family Welfare Minister Mukesh Mahaling informed the state assembly on Monday.
In a written reply to a question by Baliguda MLA Chakramani Kanhar, the minister said the highest number of faulty machines was reported from SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack, where 93 out of 2,687 machines are currently out of service. At MKCG Medical College in Berhampur, 28 of the 1,403 machines have been declared non-functional, while VIMSAR in Burla has reported 13 faulty machines out of its total 896.
The malfunctioning equipment covers a wide range of critical departments, including ICU, CCU, SNCU, Surgery and Trauma, Biochemistry, Blood Bank, CTVS, Cardiology, Casualty, CSSD, Dental, ENT, Gastroenterology, Neurology, Ophthalmology, Orthopedics, Pharmacology, Psychiatry, Urology and others.
Mahaling stated that the Odisha State Medical Corporation Limited (OSMCL) has already issued instructions to the respective Biomedical Equipment Maintenance Programme (BEMP) service providers to repair and restore all defective machines at the earliest.
He added that the government is monitoring the issue closely to ensure that essential medical services are not disrupted.
