Paediatric ICU at Niloufer gets a facelift

Health Minister inaugurates facility; says ₹10,000 crore will be spent for upgrade of govt. hospitals

November 14, 2021 12:18 am | Updated 12:18 am IST - HYDERABAD

An upgraded 100-bed paediatric ICU facility at Niloufer Hospital was inaugurated on Saturday. This was the first public health event attended by Minister T. Harish Rao post taking charge of the health portfolio recently.

On the occasion, Mr Rao urged healthcare workers to be more dedicated towards providing services, and assured support in all aspects.

Niloufer Hospital, the biggest State-run paediatric tertiary care centre in Telangana, is packed to capacity during monsoon and winter as children with respiratory issues and other health issues are admitted here. The bed capacity was increased from 1,000 to 1,400 in the recent past.

Bed capacity

Mr Harish Rao said the number of beds in the hospital will be further increased to 1,800 and funds had been allotted for the purpose. Reiterating Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s direction to strengthen health services, the Minister said that ₹10,000 crore will be spent to provide corporate grade services to the poor at government hospitals.

“We will provide any form of support that you need — timely salaries, equipment, help with repair and maintenance, administrative support, medicines and protection. This is my commitment to the staff,” said the Minister.

Corporate support

Corporate firms which have donated funds to upgrade equipment in the ICU were commended. OpenText has contributed ₹1.1 crore towards the ICU upgrade.

Hyderabad Software Enterprises Association, along with its NGO partner, has contributed ₹18 crore to carry out works at government hospitals. At the inauguration, Mr Harish Rao said Infosys is contributing ₹1.7 crore towards construction of a 25-bed ICU at the hospital.

DEIC opened

He also inaugurated a District Early Intervention Centre (DEIC) on the hospital premises, the tenth such facility in the State. Children up to the age of 18 years with defects, deficiencies, or health complications will be examined here. If the need arises, they will be sent to a higher health facility for treatment or surgery.

Officials from the Health department said the idea is to detect complications in newborns and adolescents teenagers in the early stages to help in better outcomes of treatment. Doctors and medical officers examine the newborns for any birth defect and Accredited Social Health Activists, better known as ASHAs, follow up the cases when they check the health of new mothers.

Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram teams check the children in schools, anganwadi centres, and other places.

DEICs have 13 specialities under them. Parents can consult various doctors under one roof instead of running to multiple hospitals.

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