Guwahati: Assam Medical College and Hospital located in Dibrugarh is confronting a significant shortage of doctors, nurses, and support staff, which is placing additional strain on Upper Assam's major tertiary healthcare center.
Doctor Vacancies Across Departments
Out of the total 434 sanctioned posts designated for doctors at the hospital, 121 are presently vacant, leaving a total of 313 doctors actively in position according to a senior official. These vacancies impact 23 different departments, while a scarcity of junior doctors has further compounded the daily workload carried by the available medical personnel.
Impact of Staff Transfers
The overall staffing situation deteriorated following the official transfer of various doctors and other employees to newly established medical colleges situated in Tinsukia and Lakhimpur. Positions that became vacant in the wake of these operational transfers have not yet been backfilled, according to administrative officials.
Nursing Shortage and Bed Capacity Disparity
The nursing workforce is similarly dealing with a major shortfall. The institution, which operates nearly 2,000 beds, currently maintains around 449 nurses on duty. This operational disparity has grown much more pronounced over the decades. When the facility was upgraded from a medical school into a full medical college back in 1947, it featured roughly 900 beds alongside a comparable number of nurses.
While the hospital bed capacity has more than doubled over the years, its nursing strength has remained largely stagnant. This severe shortage forces nurses to manage exceptionally heavy patient loads during their shifts. During certain night shifts, a single nurse may reportedly be required to attend to anywhere between 150 and 200 patients, raising serious concerns regarding the limited time available for patient monitoring and individualized clinical care.
Support Staff and Referral Pressures
Additional vacancies persist across various other categories of hospital employees, including Grade IV support staff. The combined manpower shortage has directly added to the operational pressure on existing workers as the medical facility continues to handle a massive daily patient turnout.
The institution serves as a major referral center for Upper Assam, catering to patients arriving from multiple regional districts as well as neighboring states such as Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland.
Diagnostic Equipment Breakdowns
In addition to manpower constraints, the hospital diagnostic services have experienced operational difficulties, with MRI and CT scan machines reportedly suffering from frequent breakdowns. When essential diagnostic equipment remains unavailable, patients, particularly those coming from economically weaker sections, are frequently forced to seek out diagnostic services at private medical centers where scans can cost several thousand rupees.
Broader Healthcare Expansion Context
These persistent shortages at the medical college emerge at a time when Assam is actively expanding its broader network of medical colleges and healthcare facilities across the state. However, for ordinary patients who rely heavily on the Dibrugarh institution for affordable specialized treatment, gaps in staffing and diagnostic infrastructure continue to pose daily challenges.
