AIIMS Bhubaneswar has stopped several routine diagnostic tests for about three weeks after exhausting essential consumables, forcing patients to travel to private laboratories and pay for services that would otherwise be available at the public hospital. Hospital authorities said the tests would resume after the arrival of ordered supplies.
The tests affected include complete blood count (CBC), urine routine and microscopy (urine R/M), thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), vitamin D and vitamin B12 tests, according to patients and a hospital staff member cited in the report. The disruption has affected people visiting the institute from districts including Nayagarh, Dhenkanal and Ganjam.
A 42-year-old patient from Ranpur in Nayagarh district, who had arrived with a high fever, was prescribed six tests on Thursday. His wife, Anita Pradhan, said only three were conducted at the hospital and that the remaining tests, including CBC and a thyroid test, had to be completed outside. She said her husband had to walk to private laboratories because the family did not have a vehicle.
Another patient from Dhenkanal district said he was required to pay for diagnostic tests outside the hospital despite being exempt from charges for treatment or diagnosis at AIIMS Bhubaneswar because he had a ration card. The patient questioned why he should bear the cost when the tests were unavailable because of an administrative issue at the institute.
Patients’ attendants also said the interruption was affecting basic diagnostic care. Chitra Palai, an attendant from Ganjam district, described urine testing as a basic and important service and questioned why CBC testing was not being conducted at a premier tertiary-care hospital.
Dr Prabhas Ranjan Tripathy, medical superintendent of AIIMS Bhubaneswar, acknowledged that routine tests had been temporarily halted because the hospital’s consumables had been exhausted. “The hospital is waiting for the delivery of test items it has ordered. We will resume the services after they arrive,” he said.
The disruption has also extended to radiology. Dr Tripathy acknowledged that one X-ray machine was not functioning and said it would be repaired and made operational. A hospital staff member alleged that reagents used for different diagnostic tests had not been ordered on time, with files pending before different officials. The staff member attributed the delays to administrative processes, while the hospital’s public response focused on the pending delivery of test items.
The interruption has created an additional burden for patients who travel long distances to access subsidised or free care at AIIMS Bhubaneswar. Those unable to arrange transport must leave the hospital campus to obtain tests, while others face direct costs at private facilities. The medical superintendent said services would resume once the ordered supplies arrive, and that the non-functional X-ray machine would be repaired.
