Patients visiting the State-run Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology Cancer Research and Training Centre can now avail world class facilities for advanced cancer care, including a 14-bed paediatric ICU.
Chief Minister Basvaraj Bommai on Monday inaugurated the ICU and a slew of other facilities including a multi-disciplinary Infosys Out-Patient Department (OPD) block, a bone marrow transplant block, a PET scan block and Department of Nuclear Medicine apart from a 200-bed day care ward for chemotherapy, a 100-bed step down ICU among other infrastructure projects.
Kidwai director C. Ramachandra said the paediatric ICU is a boon to children with cancers of the blood, brain, lymphoma, solid tumours in the liver, kidney or pancreas, bones and soft tissue. “We see over 800 new paediatric cases and 20,000 follow up paediatric cases a year and over 90% of them cannot afford treatment in the private sector. This 14-bed ICU has been established with donation from Muhammed Majeed from Sami Labs and Sanjay Nagar Lions Trust,” he said.
The paediatric ICU includes six step-down ICU beds where patients who need oxygen but no ventilator will be admitted, before being shifted to the general ward.
The Infosys Foundation has spent ₹25.5 crore on the OPD block that is spread across one lakh square feet. This block will cover over 12 departments and nearly 1,800 patients can be accommodated every day, he said. Sudha Murty, Chairperson, Infosys Foundation attended the event virtually.
Dr. Ramachandra said treatment at the bone marrow transplant block with 17 rooms, a PET scan block and Department of Nuclear Medicine will be provided for free for those below poverty line and at subsidised costs for others. “We have also got a Genomic lab and advanced molecular Onco Lab, two new OTs, a central medical store, five units of 64 Slice CT scan, two CT Simulators and Brachy Therapy unit, 50 patient monitors and a central sterilization unit inaugurated today. All these were pending due to COVID-19,” he said.
Other units
Lauding the institute and donors for establishing world-class facilities in a government hospital, the CM said one unit of Kidwai will be soon started in Bengaluru South and Hubbali-Dharwad. “There is a need for further research in cancer. We will rope in global Research and Development firms for this,” he said. Health and Medical Education Minister K. Sudhakar said peripheral cancer centres will soon be started in Tumakuru, Shivamogga and Mysuru.
Kidwai to go paperless soon
Going paperless soon, the Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology will become the first government hospital to execute the Centre’s e-hospital project in Karnataka.
The e-hospitalisation project aims at integrating and managing all aspects of a hospital’s operations such as medical including health records, financial, administrative and legal. “Now most of our patients, who come from far off places, have to wait in long queues to get their medical records. This system will put an end to such hassles and streamline the process of getting treatment at the institute,” C. Ramachandra, institute director said.
