Kalaburagi branch of Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences & Research completes one year
Until a year ago, getting treatment for heart-related issues was a challenge for the people of Hyderabad-Karnataka as they had no full-fledged cardiac hospital in the region. Those with adequate financial resources travelled all the way to Hyderabad, Solapur, Bengaluru or other health-hubs. The downtrodden and marginalised, who formed the majority of population in the backward region, were largely deprived of such luxury.
However, the opening of a branch of Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences & Research (SJICR) at Kalaburagi a year ago finally brought smiles on the faces of tens of thousands of poor patients of the region as it began to offer quality services for free or at affordable cost. The statistics of services offered and the composition of patients treated speak volumes about the success and popularity of the branch.
Opened on April 23, 2016, the SJICR branch has handled 27,000 out-patients and 2,962 in-patients in the last one year. It has successfully performed 2,174 angiograms and angioplasties. As many as 17,000 electrocardiogram (ECG), 15,273 echocardiography (ECO), and 1,709 treadmill stress test (TMT) were also done in the same period. The branch began performing open heart surgeries about two months ago and has successfully done 25 open heart surgeries so far. More than 85% of the patients treated belong to economically weaker sections holding BPL and Yeshasvini cards.
At present, six full-time cardiologists and two resident cardiac surgeons are functioning in the branch. Expert surgeons from Bengaluru main campus come on weekends to perform complicated surgeries. The quality of services offered in Kalaburagi branch is almost on a par with the services offered at its main campus in Bengaluru, says Dr. C.N Manjunath, Director of the institute.
‘Treatment first’
“We could maintain very high standard of patient care and delivery of services at Jayadeva, Kalaburagi as well. The success rate is impressive with angiogram/ angioplasty at 99% and open heart surgery at 100%,” Dr. Manjunath told The Hindu over phone. He said the Kalaburagi branch was also, just as main centre in Bengaluru, following the dictum of “treatment first” to ensure that no patient returned home without treatment just because he/she did not have enough money.
To ensure quality services through continuous monitoring and guiding, Dr. Manjunath has put a system in place with which he can watch live everything happening in the Kalaburagi branch, right from operating procedures to nursing care in the ward, from his chamber on the Bengaluru campus.
More facilities: Minister
Minister of State for Medical Education and Kalaburagi in-charge Dr. Sharan Prakash Patil has said the Kalaburagi branch of SJICR was serving its purpose effectively, catering to the needs of the region. He said that his government would expand the medical infrastructure in Kalaburagi and across the State as well.
“We are opening a new trauma centre and reopening the currently defunct cancer hospital in Kalaburagi shortly. We have opened six medical colleges and have plans to add six more in the years to come. We are going to open a super-speciality hospital in each revenue division. Our aim is to expand the health infrastructure under public sector so as to provide quality healthcare to the common people either free or at affordable cost,” he told The Hindu .
