Quarters for MKCG staff remain elusive

Berhampur: For hundreds of MKCG Medical College and Hospital staffers, who work day and night to save lives, the comforts of a home remain a distant dream.

Out of 1,306 dedicated staff members, only 188 have been fortunate enough to receive staff quarters—barely 14 per cent of the workforce.

Among the 689 staff nurses, who are often the first to respond to emergencies and the last to leave a patient’s bedside, only 29 nurses—just 4 per cent—have been allotted a place to stay.

Their long shifts often end not in rest, but in the struggle to find safe accommodation far from the hospital gates.

The teaching faculty, pillars of medical education, fare a little better.

Of 348 teaching staff, only 54 (16 per cent) have been provided quarters. Meanwhile, 87 out of 269 non-teaching staff, around 32 per cent, have a roof to call their own within the campus, according to the 2024 AG Audit Inspection Report.

These numbers paint a stark portrait of a system stretched thin.

The doctors, who fight to save the critically ill; the nurses, who cradle newborns into life; the technicians, who work behind the scenes, all stand united in service, yet divided by the lack of a simple necessity: a home nearby.

The findings lay bare a poignant truth. Residential accommodation in MKCG MCH is painfully insufficient, leaving most staffers to navigate long distances, pay high rents and face daily uncertainties even as they hold the responsibility of thousands of lives.

Prof Suchitra Dash, Dean, MKCG Medical College and Hospital, said though there is no allocation for construction of more staff quarters, the process has been started to provide more quarters inside the campus.

In an institution where compassion flows endlessly from caregivers to patients, the question echoes with emotion and urgency: Who will take care of the caregivers?