In a major leap towards betterment of the health infrastructure in North and Central Delhi areas, the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NMC) is set to enhance facilities at the Hindu Rao Hospital (HRH).
The Corporation plans to develop a ten-storey multi-speciality ward and an Operation Theatre (OT) at the biggest hospital in the area serving over five lakh patients. Upgradation of the Hindu Rao Hospital comes immediately after opening of the medical college associated with it, which is the first by any civic agency in Delhi.
Officials said the new multi-speciality block would almost be twice the capacity of HRH. At present, HRH is capable of accommodating 980 patients. Further, new departments would be created. Since the number of visitors to HRH is expected to go up significantly, the Corporation has also planned to construct a three-level underground parking in the basement of each new block. The civic body has also begun the tendering process for appointing a consultant who will prepare a detailed report on the project.
“With opening of the medical college, there is a need for development of more facilities. Besides providing practical training to medical students, the upcoming facilities will immensely benefit scores of patients frequenting HRH everyday. As per the proposal, two separate multi-speciality and OT blocks will be constructed,” said Mayank Sharma, Additional Commissioner (Health) in NMC. He said the consultant would be appointed by next month and detailed work on the project would commence thereafter.
Officials said that the new blocks would also reduce long queues of patients at the Out Patient Department (OPD) and surgical blocks. The HRH does not even have a separate surgical block, so constructing one is necessary.
Besides the OPD, emergency and casualty services, the Hindu Rao Hospital provides services in medicine, orthopaedics, gynaecology, ENT, ophthalmology, cardiology, physiotherapy, paediatrics, pathology and forensic medicine, among others.It is noteworthy that these departments needed to be augmented after opening of the medical college.
The medical college, named after former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, was inaugurated in August with 50 students enrolled in the first session. The number of students will be increased to 200. The HRH was recently upgraded to create infrastructure for the medical college that include classrooms, library, laboratories and an auditorium, among others.