North Lakhimpur: Non-filling of vacant posts of medical and health officers has been severely affecting the healthcare services in rural hospitals in the Lakhimpur district.
The worst affected hospital with the highest number of vacant posts of doctors is Telahi Model Hospital in Panigaon, which is barely 10 km away.
Situated in Bosagaon in Panigaon the Telahi Model Hospital was inaugurated during the Covid-19 pandemic emergency in 2020 and has been running without the allotted doctors that are supposed to serve 1.5 lakh population, mostly of ST and SC communities under Telahi and Kamalabaria Mauza of the district.
There are two posts of Medical and Health Officers (M&HO) lying vacant in the hospital in the last three years.
All five posts of senior M&HOs are also in the vacant state in the hospital.
Only its Deputy Superintendent is coping with hundreds of patients that visit Telahi Model Hospital presently.
Similarly, only one Community Health Officer, a GNM nurse promoted under (National Health Mission) NHM has been rendering services to patients at Telahi Model Hospital.
This has forced most of the rural population to travel several kilometres to Lakhimpur Medical College Hospital in North Lakhimpur for treatment.
The lack of doctors has also been affecting the healthcare services in the 30-bed Nowboicha Rural Hospital (BPHC) in the Lakhimpur district.
Four out of six allotted posts of M&HOs of the hospital have been lying vacant supposed to serve two lakh people from seventeen Gaon Panchayats of Nowboicha.
Currently, the hospital is run by one paediatrician and one newly appointed doctor besides the Sub-Divisional M&HO with the Deputy Superintendent.
As a result, the demand for healthcare services in this rural area could not be met by the hospital.
Meanwhile, the outbreak of Japanese Encephalitis is being reported in Lakhimpur.
So far 27 people have been reported with symptoms of JE of which three have been confirmed with the virus.
Most of the affected persons are reported to be young children.