Newborns at the State-run Cheluvamba Hospital will get individual and engaged attention with its Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), which currently lacks beds to accommodate babies born at the hospital, getting a facelift.
The NICU, where newborns with noticeable health problems are treated soon after their birth, has a current strength of 30 beds and with the expansion going on, the number will rise to 55.
The expansion work is being carried out at a cost of Rs. 4 crore. Even the number of beds at the labour ward is being increased by expanding the facility at the hospital, which is attached to Mysore Medical College and Research Institute (MMCRI).
MMCRI director and dean B. Krishnamurthy told The Hindu : “Sometimes, due to the scarcity of beds in NICU, two to three newborns used to be treated on a single bed. We can allot a bed each to a newborn once the expansion is completed.”
The funds for the work, Rs. 2 crore has under the Chief Minister’s Mysuru City Development funds and Rs. 2 crore from the Department of Medical Education, has been sanctioned and the Public Works Department is carrying out the work.
The number of beds at the labour ward will increase to 40 from 10, with a separate ICU of 10 beds for surgical cases (maternity), and two operation theatres.
“These facilities are essential to better the services and improve the quality of treatment and we have told by the PWD that the facilities would be ready before the end of this year or even earlier,” he said.
Incidentally, Cheluvamba Hospital was the second in south India with the highest number of deliveries in 2016 with more than 15,000.
“About 45-50 deliveries are recorded daily at the hospital,” Dr. Krishnamurthy claimed.
