MEDICAL AND PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICES

HOSPITALS AND DISPENSARIES

Public Hospitals and Dispensaries.- As regards the dispensaries existing in the district in former times the old Gazetteer has to say the following: -

"The District has 11 dispensaries, including the main dispensary at Buldana. They are located at Khamgaon, Shegaon, Malkapur, Nandura, Jalgaon, Pimpalgaon-Raja, Chikhli, Mehkar, Donegaon, and Deulgaon-Raja. Of these the first four dispensaries are on the railway line. The dispensaries have accommodation for 59 male and 16 female in-patients. The number of in-patients and out-patients treated during 1908 was 708 and 81,197, respectively; 2,520 operations were performed in 1908, and of these 46 were of an important nature. The dispensaries have been chiefly supported by Government. Since April, 1906, contributions from local bodies have been increased, and greater authority has been vested in Dispensary Committees. Government pays the salary of the Medical Officers and contributes towards the supply of medicines and surgical appliances, but the largest contributions now come from the District Board and Municipalities. All the dispensaries except Khamgaon and Buldana have sums of money invested in stock, which is put by for a rainy day. The interest on these sums together with subscriptions from local bodies constitute the other main sources of revenue. The items under which most money is spent are European medicines, dieting, establishment, and buildings. The diseases principally treated are malarial fevers, diseases of the eye and digestive system, and skin affections. Buldana, Mehkar, Nandura and Khamgaon dispensaries have a midwife attached to them." [Gazetteer of Buldhana, 1910, p. 392.]

The general hospital at Buldhana was previously run by the dispensary fund committee. In 1956 the bed strength of this hospital was only 56, which now stands at 84. During the Third Plan period one family planning centre was opened and it was attached to this hospital. A midwife training centre has been started in this hospital during the Fourth Five-Year Plan. In the year 1967, 87,083 out-door and 38,606 in-door patients were treated in the General hospital. 816 major and 1,403 minor operations were carried out during the same year.

At present four hospitals including the General hospital at Buldhana are managed by Government. These are situated as under: two at Buldhana and one each at Khamgaon and Shegaon. The number of hospitals run by municipalities stands at 6. They are situated at Khamgaon, Malkapur, Shegaon, Chikhli, Deul-gaon-Raja and Mehkar. The Zilla Parishad manages 19 dispensaries, now functioning in rural areas. The two big hospitals in the district, viz., T. B. Sanatorium, Buldhana, and J. M. hospital, Khamgaon, are controlled by the Deputy Director of Medical Services, Nagpur, whereas the other hospitals are under the supervision of the Civil Surgeon, Buldhana. There is also one Mobile Mission hospital at Buldhana. The following statement gives the number of hospital beds in each tahsil of the district for the years 1961 and 1965.

The number of hospital beds per lakh of population for the year 1965 worked out to 57 for the district as a whole. The Khamgaon tahsil had the highest number of beds, viz., 133 per lakh of population followed by Chikhli 94, Mehkar 13, Jalgaon 13 and Malkapur 12.

The number of surgeons, physicians and doctors for the year 1961 stood at 494 including 20 females; whereas the number of nurses, pharmacists and other medical and health technicians for the same year was 532, including 388 males and 144 females.

Thus, out of a total of 1,026 persons engaged in medical and public health services, 862 were males and 164 females. Out of the same total, 498 were working in the rural areas and 528 in urban areas. Thus for every 1,033 persons in the district there was one person engaged in the medical profession. The number of such medical personnel per one lakh population in the district is 47 as against 54 for the State of Maharashtra.

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