Margao: For South Goa District Hospital (SGDH), the wheel has come full circle. When the 500-bed facility opened five years ago, it was hoped that the patient woes of the old Hospicio, where people were often forced to lie on floors, stretchers and wheelchairs for want of beds, would become a thing of the past.Today, a similar situation is playing out at the district hospital, despite repeated assurances of better facilities from the health minister.Replies tabled in the assembly show that the pressure is not merely seasonal. In 2025, SGDH recorded 43,693 ward admissions, or about 120 a day, besides 63,093 casualty cases and 4.63 lakh OPD patients. The male and female medicine wards accounted for 16,406 admissions, more than a third of the total, despite having only 160 of the hospital’s 500 beds. Their admissions per bed were roughly twice those of the surgery wards, which have the same bed strength.Govt has acknowledged the pressure. In reply to a starred question by Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai on July 24, 2025, health minister Vishwajit Rane said 10 additional beds were needed in each medicine ward. He also admitted that admissions sometimes exceed available beds, with patients treated on stretchers during emergencies until beds become available.The hospital’s sanctioned bed strength was increased from 350 to 500 from Aug 22, 2025, with the stated aim of ensuring patients were not treated on wheelchairs or stretchers.Barely eight months later, that objective appears difficult to sustain. With patients again being accommodated on stretchers and wheelchairs, the administration is arranging reclining chairs so they do not have to sit on stools. Medical superintendent Dr Rajendra Borkar described this as a “purely a stop-gap arrangement”. Authorities are also considering shifting the nursing college, which has operated from the fourth floor since last year, to the old Hospicio to free up space, though the proposal is preliminary.Borkar attributed the current surge to monsoon and post-monsoon viral, respiratory and gastro-intestinal cases and expects numbers to ease in a week or two. He said the hospital operates at about 80% occupancy overall, with pressure concentrated in some wards.Staff shortages add to the strain. Data accessed by TOI show that of 643 sanctioned posts, 450 are filled and 193 vacant. This includes 39 vacancies among 202 sanctioned staff nurse posts. Two of three senior surgeon posts and three of four junior anaesthetist posts are also vacant.The problem predates SGDH. In June 2012, then health minister Laxmikant Parsekar, after visiting Hospicio, said he saw two patients sharing a cot and others sleeping on the ground, with occupancy at 1.5 times capacity.The new hospital may have 500 beds, but shortages of staff and space continue to leave patients waiting for one.
