The new super specialty block at the Medical College Hospital is likely to be fully functional by November 1. The in-patient (IP) wards of all super specialties are scheduled to be moved to the new building by then.
All six super specialties, complete with their OP and IP wings, theatre and ICU facilities, will function as fully self-contained units in the new block once the IP wards are shifted. The OP clinics of all specialties — medical neurology, surgical neurology, medical gastroenterology, surgical gastroenterology, nephrology and urology — have already been shifted to the new block by July 1.
There will be only general wards in the new block. Patients opting for pay wards will have to remain in the old building. “We are making all arrangements for a smooth shift so that the patients are not inconvenienced. We do not need to move furniture from the old block but some theatre equipment must be shifted to the new building. We propose to start the actual shifting by month-end so that the process is completed on November 1,” a senior MCH official said.
The SS Block, spread over 1,60,000 sq.ft. in seven floors, houses the OP clinics and in-patient wards of six super specialties, eight operation theatres, six intensive care units, haemo dialysis unit and renal transplant unit, apart from administration blocks. The block was constructed by HLL Life Care Ltd. as part of upgrade of MCH under the Rs.120-crore Prime Minister's Swasthya Suraksha Yojana. Six super specialties together had 140 beds in the old block. In the new block, there will be 290 beds in all, including the intensive care unit beds.
The general wards have been arranged in such a way that each department will have a separate module. Each module will have six cubicles of six beds each, one isolation bed and three ‘high care area' beds. Each department will now get 40 beds each. There will be a 21-bed medical ICU for all three medical departments while each of the three surgical departments will get a six-bed ICU.
Each of the eight operation theatres will be an independent modular unit. Neuro surgery, surgical gastro and urology departments are allotted two theatres each. There will be one transplant theatre. The dialysis room will have 10 new units.
The agreement with HLL is that for the first two years, the hospital assets and facilities management in the new building – including cleaning, sanitation, plumbing, electrical system, air-conditioning and repairs – will be the responsibility of HLL.
One glitch the authorities would have to work around will be the shortage of nursing staff. Though new posts of nurses had been sanctioned by the government the actual appointments have not worked out due to some technicalities cited by the PSC.
“We are making temporary arrangements through the hospital development society or the employment exchange. But we do not want to delay the shifting any further,” an MCH official said.
