To help patients and attendants find their way in the labyrinthine structure of the Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS), a battery of volunteers known as “Rogi Mitras” have been deployed to serve as guides.
Clad in yellow jackets, the “Rogi Mitras” can be easily identified and approached for help.
“A large number of patients from places in Madhya Pradesh and Bihar find it difficult to manage the formalities and paper work on their own. Besides they also cannot find their way through the campus that is spread over 700 acres. These volunteers will be of great help to such patients and attendants,” says R.K. Sharma, director of Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences.
There are nearly 32 departments at PGI, each of which see at least 250 new and 1,000 old patients on a single working day. On an average, some 20,000 attendants and patients report at the hospital on any given day.
As per estimates, every four out of ten patients in out patient department need to be admitted. Proper guidance for new patients will serve as a boon, given the size and shape of the PGI building.
So far, 20 volunteers have enrolled as Rogi Mitras in the PGI and these include Tarachand Yadav, a van driver, who has opted for a part-time duty as volunteer and Rajendra Gupta, who is a lift operator in the PGI and works as a Rogi Mitra during off hours.
Housewives, senior citizens and family members of doctors and staff living on the PGI campus have also expressed willingness to work as Rogi Mitras.
“Anyone who is willing to serve will have to collect the application form and enrolment is possible only after a proper interview. The drill for selection, which is based on international guidelines for hospital volunteers, is meant to rope in genuine people with trustworthy backgrounds,” said a PGI official.