The three residential clusters comprise 23,704 housing units. With a majority of residents belonging to marginalised and economically weaker sections, the UCHC remains a critical point of access to public healthcare.

However, residents say services at the 24-hour facility have been severely affected due to the shortage of doctors, the absence of lab technicians and the non-availability of official outpatient slips.

During a visit by DT Next, prescriptions were found being issued on one-sided scrap paper (from an old tender document) in the general outpatient ward, as sealed OP slips were unavailable. The X-ray room was closed, and the first-floor ward, officially listed as functional, appeared to be largely non-operational.

K Murugan, a resident of Ezhil Nagar, said the paediatrician, the only one available at the centre, had been on leave for over a month. "Instead of two general practitioners, only one is attending to patients. The gynaecologist visits only three times a week. Due to the lack of technicians, the X-ray facility is available only on three days a week," he lamented.

Residents also alleged that key facilities existed largely on paper. Though the three-storey UCHC is listed as providing general and dental outpatient services, X-ray, ophthalmology and paediatric care, none of these services were found. While the building houses an operation theatre complex, a newborn care unit and a labour ward, the utilisation of these facilities is limited, residents claimed.

Manikandan, a Kannagi Nagar resident, alleged that the paediatric ward on the first floor had been used as a storage area for medical equipment for over a year. “Doctors arrive late, and treatment is inadequate, forcing many to visit private clinics. We cannot even use these unofficial prescriptions at outside pharmacies. But, whenever officials come for inspection, proper OP slips suddenly appear,” he said.