Sundargarh Hospital Faces Staff Crunch, NMC Notice for Non-Compliance

Sundargarh Government Medical College and Hospital (SGMCH) in Rourkela is facing a severe shortage of teaching and technical staff and has received a notice from the National Medical Commission (NMC) to address manpower deficiencies, intensifying concerns over the institution’s ability to deliver quality healthcare in a tribal-dominated region.

The NMC sent a formal notice to SGMCH on June 30, 2026, seeking compliance with its mandatory manpower requirements within a 45-day deadline, citing critical gaps in human resources as the primary concern. Official sources confirmed that the notice specifically highlighted the absence of permanent faculty in key departments and the lack of sanctioned technical staff, which undermines both academic training and clinical service delivery.

SGMCH, established to cater to the critical and advanced healthcare needs of Sundargarh district and its adjoining tribal areas, has a sanctioned strength of 180 teaching posts to support its 100 MBBS seats and 500-bed hospital infrastructure. However, as of the latest assessment, 57 of these teaching positions remain vacant, creating a significant shortfall in faculty availability.

Several departments are operating without a single professor, including microbiology, physiology, ENT (ear, nose, and throat), ophthalmology, biochemistry, orthopaedics, and radiodiagnosis. The absence of senior faculty in these core disciplines affects both undergraduate teaching and postgraduate training, raising concerns about the institution’s compliance with NMC norms for medical education.

The situation is further exacerbated by the non-functional status of two essential departments: emergency medicine and physical medicine and rehabilitation. Despite NMC mandates requiring these departments to be fully operational, they remain understaffed and unable to deliver comprehensive services due to the chronic shortage of manpower.

Technical staff positions have also not been filled through regular government posting. Consequently, departments are relying on a temporary workforce comprising contractual laboratory technicians, class attendants, and office attendants to maintain basic operations. This ad hoc arrangement has led to unusual role overlaps, with sanitary workers being required to open department offices each morning, while teachers and tutors are frequently diverted to perform administrative duties, detracting from their primary academic responsibilities.

SGMCH sources revealed that the institution’s 12 clinical and eight non-clinical and paraclinical departments are all grappling with varying degrees of manpower shortages. In particular, the sanctioned posts for medical officers in the casualty (emergency) department remain unfilled. As a result, doctors from other clinical departments are being routinely deployed to manage casualty services, disrupting their regular duties and potentially compromising the quality and timeliness of emergency care.

In response to the NMC notice, SGMCH dean and principal Prof Gita Sahu acknowledged the severity of the situation, stating that the state government is fully aware of the vacancies and that appropriate measures are being initiated to address them. She confirmed that necessary steps had been taken to prepare and submit the compliance report to the NMC by the first week of August, well within the stipulated deadline.

"We are working closely with the health department to expedite the recruitment process and fill the critical gaps," Prof Sahu said in an internal meeting, as reported by sources. "The submission of the compliance report reflects our commitment to meeting NMC standards, even as we continue to advocate for long-term solutions to the staffing crisis."

Local political leaders have also voiced strong concern over the deteriorating state of the hospital. Sundargarh MLA Jogesh Singh criticized the persistent neglect by successive governments, emphasizing that SGMCH was originally conceived to provide quality secondary and tertiary healthcare to the predominantly tribal population of the region.

"The hospital was meant to be a beacon of hope for tribal communities who often face barriers to accessing advanced medical care," MLA Singh said. "Instead, due to chronic underinvestment and failure to fill sanctioned posts, it has been reduced to a mere referral centre, forcing patients to travel long distances for specialized treatment. This is not just an administrative failure—it is a betrayal of the people we are sworn to serve."

He further urged the state government to prioritize the recruitment of permanent faculty and technical staff, warning that continued inaction could jeopardize the institution’s recognition by the NMC and jeopardize the future of medical education in the region.

As the August deadline approaches, stakeholders including faculty, students, and local residents are closely monitoring the government’s response, hoping that the compliance report will be backed by concrete action to restore SGMCH to its intended role as a premier healthcare and educational institution serving Odisha’s underserved communities.