About a decade since it was first proposed, a municipality-run hospital in South Delhi’s Kalkaji opened its doors on Sunday with the out-patient department (OPD) being inaugurated by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
The 100-bed Purnima Sethi Multi-Speciality Hospital is the first hospital for the South Delhi Municipal Corporation, which took over the project from the erstwhile Municipal Corporation of Delhi. The Standing Committee of the MCD had first cleared the project in 2005 and it was supposed to have been completed in three years. However, construction started in 2010 and the cost went up from the initial estimate of Rs.31 crore to Rs.52 crore.
Named after the former BJP MLA from Kalkaji, the hospital’s ground and first floors will house the OPD. When completed the 8,450 square metre plot will have a built-up area of 26,102 square metres. Apart from the general OPD, there will be specialised OPDs for medicine, paediatrics, gynaecology/obstetrics, ophthalmology, ENT, dentistry as well as diagnostics and imaging services. The complex will have 20 staff quarters and parking for 104 cars.
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Speaking at the inauguration, Mr. Jaitley said opening the OPD on the birthday of Sethi, a former Minister in the Delhi Government, was a tribute to the leader who had worked for the betterment of the Kalkaji area.
“We will start operations in a phased manner, but even with the OPD we will be able to cater to 1,000 to 2,000 patients every day. This will reduce the pressure on other hospitals in the area,” said SDMC Mayor Subhash Arya.
During the construction of the hospital, water from an aquifer at the site had been filling the basement and going down the drain. But, now officials said the water has been diverted through a system of channels and sent to a pit, from where it is being used by the hospital.
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Like other municipality and government run hospitals, the Purnima Sethi Hospital will provide free of cost treatment, diagnostics and treatment to patients. Apart from the hospital, the SDMC has 30 allopathic dispensaries, 49 mother and child welfare centres, nine maternity centres, two chest clinics and four school health units.