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Chandigarh health department proposes trauma centre at Manimajra
If approved, it will be the fourth government trauma centre in Chandigarh; but at present, only one such centre is operational, at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research
With an aim to boost the medical services in Chandigarh under the Prime Minister-Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM) and to ensure emergency healthcare in all parts of the city, the UT health department has proposed setting up a trauma centre at Manimajra.
Proposed to be equipped with expert doctors and advanced facilities, the trauma centre will take care of victims of major natural or manmade disasters, besides road accidents.
Once approved, this will be the fourth trauma centre in Chandigarh. At present, only one such centre is operational, at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), and caters to patient load from across north India.
A trauma centre is also being constructed on the campus of Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32, while the UT health department has proposed an Advanced Regional Trauma Centre in Sector 53, third in the city, but the government’ s nod is still awaited.
“A trauma centre provides immediate medical services to people in case of emergencies. Manimajra is a densely populated area. The centres at PGIMER, Sector 32 or Sector 53 are at quite a distance. Patients in Manimajra are already forced to travel a long way for emergency services. A centre here will be of great help to locals,” said Dr Suman Singh, director, health services, Chandigarh.
Dr Singh said the centre’s construction can begin early next year once the clearance to the proposal under PM-ABHIM was in.
PM-ABHIM is a pan-India health scheme for strengthening health care infrastructure at the grassroots level. Launched in October 2021 with an outlay of ₹64,180 crore, it aims to accomplish comprehensive healthcare across the country in the next five years. Under the scheme, the state governments are focusing on setting up health and wellness centres (HWC), labs and critical care units.
Dr Singh said, “Under the central government’s five year plan, the UT was asked to set up more HWCs across the city. As such, 29 HWCs and five Ayush HWCs have already been constructed. Also, the health department has set up nine outreach health centres across the city and will soon convert these into HWCs under this scheme, taking the total centre count to 43.”
“The HWCs will be enough to cater to the local patient load. But since the central government is ready to invest more in such centres, the UT health department has proposed a Trauma Centre at Manimajra,” she added.
She said an Integrated Public Health Laboratory (IPHL) will also be set up in Chandigarh under this scheme, which extends comprehensive lab services, including infectious disease diagnostics, along with other diagnostic services, such as epidemiology, haematology, clinical biochemistry, microbiology, virology and pathology, among others.
