Pvt hospitals, clinics participate in strike call by AOPMEF

Private hospitals, clinics and diagnostic centres today participated in a 24-hour strike call given by the All Odisha Private Medical Establishment Forum (AOPMEF).

The strike is aimed at mounting pressure on the state government to simplify the procedure of registration and renewal of private health care institutions.

"We have reports of about 2,000 private health care institutions participating in the cease work agitation demanding amendments to the Odisha Clinical Establishments Act," said AOPMEF vice-president Dr Jagannath Mohapatra.

Mohapatra said doctors, para-medics and employees of private health care institutions also participated in the agitation.

He said the AOPMEF had been requesting the state government to take immediate steps for registration and renewal of licences of private hospitals, which have been pending since 2014.

The private hospitals have closed outdoor departments and refused admission of new patients. However, treatment continued for those already admitted.

In a bid to normalise health care services in the wake of the protest, the state health department has taken adequate measures to ensure that people do not suffer, officials said.

The Odisha government has cancelled the leave of all doctors and employees of the SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack, a health department official said, adding, more para-medical staff and doctors have been engaged in state-run hospitals.