This story is from June 18, 2019

Odisha: Govt hospitals, private clinics join IMA strike

Outdoor patient care was partially affected in hospitals across the state on Monday as thousands of doctors joined the nationwide strike called by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) in support of their colleagues in West Bengal.
Odisha: Govt hospitals, private clinics join IMA strike
Representative image
BHUBANESWAR: Outdoor patient care was partially affected in hospitals across the state on Monday as thousands of doctors joined the nationwide strike called by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) in support of their colleagues in West Bengal.
As the Bengal doctors called off their strike following a discussion with that state's chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday evening, all associations of doctors and junior doctors in Odisha said they would rejoin work from Tuesday morning.

Health secretary Pramod Meherda said no loss of life or disruption of emergency health services was reported in the state.
Apart from government hospitals, more than 800 nursing homes and private clinics, including corporate hospitals, suspended outdoor patient services for 24 hours starting Monday morning. Emergency and indoor patient services remained operational in all hospitals.
Junior doctors in three medical colleges and hospitals in Cuttack, Berhampur and Burla boycotted all non-emergency medical services. Students of AIIMS Bhubaneswar stayed away from work as well. Doctors in the state-run hospitals also wore black badges and held protests against the brutal attack on junior doctors in Kolkata's NRS Hospital last week.
"The 24-hour strike has been a big success in Odisha. Emergency services and indoor patient care remained operational in all hospitals," said honorary secretary of IMA's Odisha chapter, Janmejay Mohapatra.

The Capital Hospital also kept its outpatient department operational so as not to inconvenience the large number of patients who depend on it. The doctors of the hospital worked while wearing black badges. "All doctors are supporting the cause but closing down the OPD would cause severe inconvenience to the public. So we staged a protest and wore black badges," said deputy superintendent of the hospital, Dhananjay Dash.
Thousands of patients were seen returning from hospitals after failing to get OPD treatment. "We had registered for paediatric OPD earlier. We learnt about the strike after coming here. Our child is crying a lot and we have no option but to return home," said Naresh Sahu, who came to AIIMS-Bhubaneswar from Khurda.
"We did not have any intention of putting patients in trouble. We will join duty from Tuesday morning," said Pravat Rout, president of Junior Doctors Association, SCB Medical College and Hospital.
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