After a gap of more than nine months, the Outpatient Department (OPD) services resume in Sadar Hospital of Dhanbad on Monday, with the services of nine general physicians in two shifts.

The OPD services which were launched in the hospital last year after the construction of the hospital building were discontinued since the outbreak of Covid-19 crisis in March as the hospital was initially converted into a quarantine centre and later used to conduct Covid-19 testing. Finally, it was converted into a 50-bed Covid care centre for patients with mild symptoms.

As the Covid situation has improved in the district and the number of patients has also decreased, the Covid care facility has been discontinued and the district health department decided to re-launch the OPD services in the hospital. The Covid testing facility including the trueNat and RTPCR test facility, however, will continue in the hospital along with the OPD services.

Talking to The Telegraph Online on Monday, Dr Rajkumar Singh, in-charge of Sadar Hospital Dhanbad said, “Though we have re-launched the OPD service today, we are also gearing up to start the facility of emergency services in the hospital after a week for which preparations are on.”

“We have the necessary equipment and beds for the launch of the emergency services in the hospital which can be carried out within a week or next ten days,” said Singh.

Elaborating more about the OPD services, Singh said, “Though initially, we have launched the services in two shifts from 9 am to 1 pm and again from 3 pm to 9 pm but we will ensure continuous OPD services from 9 am to 9 pm in three shifts.”

Notably, emergency services will be launched in the hospital for the first time after the development of its new building.

Construction work of the 300-bed two-storey building complex, for which the administrative approval of an original estimate of Rs 4.88 crore was given by the government way back on June 17, 2008, began in 2009.

The estimate was later revised to Rs 9.07 crore as there was a delay in the construction work in 2012 due to various reasons and finally, the construction was completed in May 2019. However, the OPD services were launched in the hospital in March 2019 after the appointment of doctors and purchase of necessary equipment carried out by the district administration through the District Mineral Foundation Trust fund.