Just a day after assuming charge of the Health Department, Minister Subodh Uniyal arrived quietly—in true cinematic style—at Doon Hospital. To understand the issues faced by patients, he joined the queue alongside them. It was then that security personnel spotted him. They immediately alerted the hospital administration. This caused a sudden flurry of activity among the officials. Principal Dr. Geeta Jain left her OPD duties and rushed to the scene in haste. During his interaction with the officials, the Minister expressed his displeasure over the delay in obtaining the Fire NOC (No Objection Certificate). Furthermore, he telephoned the IG of Fire Services and issued instructions to complete the NOC process as expeditiously as possible.
It was only the previous day that the Health Ministry portfolio had been transferred from Dhan Singh Rawat to Subodh Uniyal. The very next day, Subodh Uniyal was seen springing into action. Around 1:30 PM, he arrived at Doon Hospital—bypassing standard protocol—to inspect the facility’s operations. He ensured that the officials remained completely unaware of his visit. Conducting himself like an ordinary citizen, he visited the vaccination center and the lab reporting center, standing in line alongside the patients. However, before the Health Minister could fully assess the issues, the security personnel used their walkie-talkies to broadcast news of his presence across all floors of the hospital.
In no time, the entire administrative staff of the hospital converged on the scene. During this time, the Health Minister sought details from the officials regarding the hospital’s ongoing construction projects and general administrative arrangements. He issued directives to the officials to hand over the land previously allocated for the post-mortem facility to the Medical College. He also solicited suggestions from the doctors on how to improve healthcare services. He urged both officials and doctors to put themselves in the patients’ shoes, emphasizing that doing so would enable them to provide better care.
**Directives to Increase the Number of Orthopedic Surgeries**
The Health Minister stated that he had received complaints regarding orthopedic surgeries. He noted that a large number of patients were being forced to endure long waiting periods for their operations. Responding to this, Principal Dr. Geeta Jain informed him that five new anesthesia workstations had arrived and were currently being installed. She assured him that once these units were fully operational, the number of days dedicated to orthopedic surgeries would be increased.
