Adilabad RIMS a showpiece with no specialty services

ADILABAD: The super speciality hospital of Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), constructed in Adilabad at a cost of ₹150 crore, has since January this year remained a showpiece without functioning properly or rendering services to people.

Though called a super specialty hospital, RIMS has no specialised doctors. It had been formally inaugurated by health minister T. Harish Rao on March 4. Four specialised doctors had been appointed at this hospital. But they resigned from their posts due to various reasons.

Many doctors are not available at the hospital on all days of the week. This is because many of them have their own hospitals or private practice in other places like Nizamabad and Hyderabad.

People of erstwhile Adilabad district had pinned a lot of hopes on the super specialty services at RIMS. But they are a disappointed lot. Many patients from bordering areas of Maharashtra too arrive at this hospital with a lot of expectations. But they are unhappy about the treatment.

Many patients, who need specialised services for their ailments, are instead going to Hyderabad, Nizamabad, Karimnagar or Yawathmal in Maharashtra.

Every now and then, Congress, BJP and Left party leaders and activists stage dharnas in front of the massive building demanding recruitment of specialised doctors, so that super specialty services could be made available to patients.

RIMS director Dr. Jai Singh Rathod confessed that right now, they are not rendering super specialty services to patients, as there are no specialist doctors. He underlined that government has offered ₹1.25 lakh as salary for specialised doctors. He maintained that he has no idea why specialists are not coming to work at RIMS, Adilabad.

World-class equipment had been purchased for the super specialty hospital. But they are all lying in cold storage.