The District Government Hospital here will get its own 12-bed, air-conditioned burns ward on Saturday.
Built on the first floor right above the Geriatric Ward, the Lions-BEL Burns Ward has been sponsored by Bharat Electronics Ltd which contributed Rs. 80 lakh and Lions Club, which will recruit and maintain its six staff nurses, Lions District Governor K. Suresh Prabhu told a news conference here on Thursday.
Although Health Minister U.T.Khader will inaugurate it on April 18, the unit will be opened to public in a month after all equipment are installed.
Mr. Prabhu said, "As the District Government Hospitals in Shivamogga, Chikmagalur and Uttara Kannada do not have a burns ward, we expect patients from these districts also here. The opening of this ward would also benefit poor patients in Udupi district, who otherwise had to travel to Wenlock Hospital in Mangaluru for treatment.”
The unit will have two separate wards for male and female patients as well as critical care units. Initially the burns ward would be headed by a general surgeon. A plastic surgeon would be hired if necessary. Lions Club will raise a corpus of Rs 30 lakh for the monthly staff salaries and upkeep of the ward, Mr. Prabhu said.
Urban Development Minister Vinay Kumar Sorake and BEL's Director - HR M.L. Shanmukh are scheduled to open the wards for men and women.
