Christian Medical College’s (CMC) upcoming campus at Kannigapuram will have a dedicated trauma care centre that will adopt a multi-disciplinary approach to treat patients involved in road accidents on the national highway, according to Sunil Chandy, director of CMC.
Planning the new campus of this 117-year-old hospital was one of the main mandates for Dr. Chandy, whose five-year-term as director ends on Friday. The planning process was completed, and work on the 1,500-bed Kannigapuram campus began earlier this year. It will take two years to complete, he noted.
“Trauma care will be the face of this new campus. This will be CMC’s response to escalating statistics on road accidents. There are numerous accidents, including major ones, on the Chennai-Bengaluru National Highway. The number of persons getting injured and fatalities is high. Hence, trauma care will be the thrust area on the new campus,” he said.
He pointed out that there were no trauma care facilities along the 200-km radius of the NH.
“We will put in place a retrieval system that will involve ambulances for transferring the accident victims. The transit will be fast on the NH to reach the campus that is off the NH. An ambulance-only route has been planned on the campus so that the patient reaches the centre straight away,” Dr. Chandy explained.
The centre will have its own registration and facilities for X-ray, CT scan and also operation theatres. “This will be like a small hospital within a hospital. We will be taking a multi-disciplinary approach for trauma patients. Doctors, including surgeons, orthopaedicians and intensive care specialists, have gone for training for the purpose,” Dr. Chandy noted.
Other specialties
Apart from the trauma care centre, additional space was being created for housing specialties such as nephrology and cardiology.
“It is overcrowded in the present campus. We will also have an integrated cancer centre. Right now, the radiation, medical and surgical units are separate. On the new campus, all these units will be integrated for better patient care,” he said. He added that there will be loop services from the new campus to the main hospital to facilitate transportation for patients and staff.
During his tenure, he said that a hospital was also developed at Chittoor. A 130-bedded facility, the hospital had departments including orthopaedics, medicine, ENT, eye and dental, and four operation theatres, he added.
Looking back, he said the emphasis was on building capacity and opening social programmes.
“We have taken up social initiatives during this period. An integrated car parking facility has been established. We have invested in solar power, created solid waste management and recycling of organic waste,” Dr. Chandy said.
Hospital-on-wheels
CMC is all set to introduce mobile intensive care units that would serve as hospital-on-wheels.
“Ambulances are considered to be fast moving vehicles. But here, the vehicles cannot move fast to reach the hospital due to traffic congestion. These mobile ICUs will have oxygen, monitor and IV fluids to stabilise the patient on the way while the vehicle moves at a normal speed. We have two vehicles now, and the paramedics are undergoing training. We will need more when the new campus starts functioning,” he said.
