Photo Courtesy: nenow
Guwahati: A high-level National Health Mission delegation found fewer than five inpatients at the 200-bed Assam Oil Division Hospital in Digboi this Thursday. The facility sits nearly empty. Led by NHM Assam Executive Director Abhijit Sarma, the inspection team included Digboi MLA Suren Phukan, IOCL Executive Director Rahul Prashant, and several senior government officials.
This checkup happened after Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma directed action following Phukan's complaints about the hospital's decaying state. The British-era site is managed by Indian Oil Corporation Limited through its corporate social responsibility program. Despite the infrastructure, the hospital consistently fails to provide reliable specialist care or diagnostics. Locals now regularly travel to Dibrugarh for medical treatment instead.
The delegation held a private meeting inside the hospital's conference hall, though officials have kept the results under wraps. Phukan took to social media to discuss the visit, writing, "The low inpatient count has also raised questions about how its facilities are being used and why patients are seeking treatment elsewhere, including in Dibrugarh."
The NHM team later inspected the Digboi Community Health Centre. Abhijit Sarma approved a list of supplies for the center including one operation theatre table, two mobile beds, portable lights, one cardiotocography machine, two monitors, and three autoclaves. Repair work for the operating theatre and bathrooms also received the green light. Workers must finish these upgrades within one week. Residents remain hopeful that this swift action at the health centre signals a coming turnaround for the struggling AOD Hospital.
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