Doctor treats patients wearing helmet at Odisha hospital after piece of concrete slab falls off the ceiling

Doctors, pharmacists and other staffers of a government-run hospital in the Indian state of Odisha, on Wednesday, attended their duties wearing helmets after a portion of the ceiling of the building collapsed, revealing the sub-standard condition of the state government-owned health centres.

As per local media reports, Sumanta Naik, who works as a compounder of Dandamunda hospital in Khaprakhol block of Balangir district had a narrow escape after a huge chunk of ceiling slab collapsed at the medicine ward on Monday.

“The incident took place at around 8.30 am yesterday. I and a few patients had a narrow escape. Following which, I decided to keep the motorcycle helmet on,” Odisha Bytes quoted Naik as saying.

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This sparked outrage and panic among the patients and the staffers.

Local residents condemned concerned authorities' negligence for the poor conditionof the hospital.

Medical officer of Dhandamunda PHC, Balakrushna Purohit, released a statement saying that he had verbal communication with the authorities of the hospital about the need to repair the building.

"Top authorities are aware of the poor condition of the hospital building. Due to no maintenance, the building is turning unsafe," Argus quoted Balakrushna Purohit, a doctor of the hospital as saying.

According to local media reports, the Out Patient Department (OPD) building of the health centre was constructed only five years ago. The sources said that chunks from the ceiling were peeling off due to poor construction work.

The locals have sought an inquiry into the matter.

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