Staff Shortages Continue to Weaken Healthcare in Vidarbha

A modern hospital stands at the centre of Amravati. Its walls hold the promise of treatment, and its equipment suggests readiness for critical care.

Yet, many rooms remain unused, machines stand idle, and patients continue to wait. The facility, built to serve, struggles to function, not because of missing infrastructure but because the people needed to run it are absent.

This situation reflects a much larger issue across Vidarbha, where healthcare institutions remain constrained by a shortage of trained professionals.

A System Strained by Staffing Gaps

Vidarbha covers a large rural area where healthcare access often depends on the availability of doctors, nurses, and paramedical staff in government-run institutions.

However, these essential human resources remain in short supply across the region. A December 2024 performance audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India presents a detailed assessment of Maharashtra’s healthcare staffing landscape, revealing significant gaps that directly affect the functionality of healthcare facilities.

Across Maharashtra’s Public Health Department (PHD) and Medical Education and Drugs Department (MEDD), the report identifies a 27 percent shortfall in doctors, 35 percent in nurses, and 31 percent in paramedical staff.

Although Vidarbha-specific figures are not isolated in the audit, the region’s rural profile suggests that its shortages are likely worse than the state average.

The scarcity of healthcare workers is particularly evident in primary and secondary care services, where the shortfall stands at 22 percent for doctors, 35 percent for nurses, and 29 percent for paramedical staff.

Facilities designed to support women’s health also experience significant deficits. Women’s hospitals report a 23 percent shortage of doctors, alongside a 19 percent gap in nursing staff and 16 percent in paramedical support.

The situation is more critical in district hospitals, where specialist doctors are absent in 42 percent of sanctioned posts.

Without these specialists, essential services like cardiology, oncology, and neurology remain inaccessible for many residents. Tertiary care hospitals, which are expected to handle complex cases and serve as referral centres, face a 57 percent shortfall in nurses and a 44 percent gap in paramedical staff.

Even healthcare institutions under the AYUSH system report considerable staffing issues, with shortages of 21 percent for doctors, 57 percent for nurses, and 55 percent for paramedical staff.

These figures reflect a systemic problem that directly influences healthcare delivery in Vidarbha. In a setting where qualified staff are expected to run operations, the absence of doctors, nurses, and technicians halts services that could otherwise benefit thousands.

Uneven Distribution Across Rural and Urban Areas

Uneven Distribution of Healthcare in Vidarbha

Maharashtra holds the highest number of healthcare professionals in India, with 13.17 lakh workers as of January 2022.

However, these numbers do not translate into equitable distribution across the state. Urban centres such as Mumbai and Pune attract healthcare staff with better infrastructure, educational opportunities, and professional growth, leaving rural regions like Vidarbha with limited availability of trained personnel.

This disparity becomes particularly significant when viewed through the lens of national health workforce statistics.

A scoping review published in 2024 by Karan and colleagues shows that India’s doctor density in urban areas is four times higher than in rural regions.

The national average health workforce density stands at 20.6 per 10,000 people, which remains below the World Health Organisation’s recommended level of 44.5 per 10,000.

In Vidarbha’s rural landscape, where healthcare needs are high and access remains difficult, these ratios suggest a much deeper problem.

The shortage of specialist doctors in district hospitals exacerbates these challenges. A 42 percent gap in specialist posts means that serious health conditions often go untreated in local government facilities.

Patients are left with no option but to travel long distances to urban hubs such as Nagpur, where services are more likely to be available but are also under pressure due to high demand.

Nurses and paramedical staff play a crucial role in supporting these services, yet their absence adds further strain to the system.

Primary care services, which depend on these professionals for patient monitoring and basic treatment, frequently experience delays and disruptions. Health workers who remain on duty face excessive workloads, affecting service quality and patient experience across Vidarbha.

Trauma care facilities, essential for managing emergency cases, also reflect similar staffing problems. The CAG audit indicates a 23 percent shortage of staff under the Public Health Department and a 44 percent shortfall under the Medical Education and Drugs Department at trauma centres.

In regions like Vidarbha, where road accidents and other emergencies are common, these gaps significantly impact the timely delivery of critical care.

Infrastructure Without Operational Capacity

The shortages of healthcare personnel directly affect the usability of medical infrastructure across Vidarbha. The Amravati Super Speciality Hospital, constructed in 2015 with an investment of ₹31.91 crore, remains one of the starkest examples of this problem.

Despite being equipped with medical devices worth ₹24.89 crore, the hospital had not commenced in-patient services as of March 2022 due to inadequate staffing.

This facility was intended to serve as a major centre for specialised care in the region. However, without sufficient medical personnel, its operational capacity remains limited. This pattern is not restricted to Amravati alone.

Across Maharashtra, the CAG report notes that 133 out of 370 healthcare institutions, about 36 percent, are non-functional.

Staffing shortages account for a significant portion of these closures, suggesting that Vidarbha’s healthcare institutions face similar setbacks.

The situation points to a recurring issue where investments in infrastructure fail to translate into functional healthcare services. Buildings stand complete, equipment remains installed, but patients are unable to access care due to the absence of human resources required to run these facilities.

Structural Barriers Behind the Shortfall

Several systemic factors contribute to the ongoing healthcare worker shortage in Vidarbha. Recruitment processes remain slow, with long delays in filling sanctioned posts.

The CAG audit highlights non-sanctioned posts and procedural bottlenecks as significant barriers that prevent timely recruitment. These administrative hurdles affect both primary and higher-level healthcare institutions.

The rural setting of Vidarbha further complicates the recruitment challenge. Healthcare professionals often hesitate to work in remote areas where infrastructure is limited, schools and career opportunities for family members are scarce, and basic amenities are difficult to access.

This reluctance affects not only government healthcare services but also alternative systems such as AYUSH institutions, which face similar staffing issues.

Low salaries and poor working conditions discourage young professionals from accepting positions in rural health centres. Many healthcare workers prefer urban placements or move abroad in search of better remuneration and career prospects.

This migration depletes the available workforce pool for regions like Vidarbha, where the demand for basic and specialised medical care remains high.

The shortage of training institutions within rural regions also adds to the challenge. While Maharashtra has a strong healthcare workforce on paper, the limited number of specialised training facilities in rural areas restricts the availability of skilled professionals.

This shortfall is particularly evident in the case of specialist doctors, where the lack of locally trained talent leads to vacant posts remaining unfilled for extended periods.

The COVID-19 pandemic further exposed these vulnerabilities. During the height of the crisis, Maharashtra struggled to staff new COVID-19 centres, including those in regions like Pune and Nagpur.

Recruitment efforts fell short of addressing the surge in demand, and the inability to scale up healthcare staffing during emergencies revealed the depth of systemic weaknesses. These issues were not confined to the pandemic period but reflected pre-existing gaps that remain unresolved.

The persistence of these staffing shortages over recent years suggests that there has been little meaningful progress in addressing the problem. Despite audit reports and media coverage, the healthcare worker deficit continues to shape Vidarbha’s healthcare delivery, leaving many facilities unable to operate at full capacity.

The shortage of healthcare workers across Vidarbha stands as a critical factor limiting access to essential medical care.

Facilities built with significant public investment remain underused, while patients in need of treatment face delays, long travel distances, and incomplete services. The gaps in staffing are not isolated or incidental but reflect systemic issues that continue to affect healthcare delivery in the region.

From primary care centres to specialist hospitals, the absence of adequate personnel defines the current state of Vidarbha’s public health system. The ongoing shortfall shapes the experiences of patients and healthcare workers alike, leaving a landscape where infrastructure exists but care remains out of reach for many.