BGH fails to attract super specialist, specialist doctors

Bokaro: Despite a walk-in interview on Wednesday, Bokaro General Hospital (BGH) failed to attract specialist doctors even with attractive pay packages, accommodation and other benefits. The hospital, run by Steel Authority of India Limited, has 910 beds, but faces a dearth of specialist doctors.
BGH had floated advertisements to engage doctors on 21 posts on a contractual basis. The posts included six super specialists in the urology, gastroenterology, neurology, cardiology and endocrinology departments.
“Around 55 candidates appeared for the interview of which, 37 appeared for the post of general medical officer, seven for surgery, five for orthopaedics and one for the department of medicine. There were no candidates for super specialist or specialist doctors,” said Manikant Dhan, chief of communication of Bokaro Steel Limited.
The hospital does not have an urologist, MD gastroenterologist, neurologist, MD cardiologist, cardiothoracic surgeon and endocrinologist for the respective departments. While many doctors have retired, some have left job.
A few super specialist posts are lying vacant for almost a decade now. Despite modern infrastructure and facilities, about 10 surgeons and specialists apart from doctors left BGH in the last 10 years and there were no replacements. The radiology department is the worst affected with no radiologist for the last four years.
BGH annually performs around 8,000 surgeries and receives 11 lakh outdoor patients. It caters as a referral centre in the coal-belt region of Bokaro, Giridih, Dhanbad and Purulia (West Bengal). Presently, BGH has an MD nephrologist and three MCH doctors, including a neurosurgeon, burn and plastic surgeon and a paediatric surgeon. These departments often seen patients from Bihar and neighbouring states.
A BGH official said super specialist and specialist doctors may not have come due to the Covid-19 situation.
The hospital management is hopeful of getting super specialist doctors soon.