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Regional trauma centre not set up in 15 yrs: Now, Chandigarh admn mulling mother and child care centre on unutilised land
Land allotted to GMCH-32 for trauma centre has remained unutilised for 15 years; hospital’s principal-director seeks a month to think over best possible use of land
Following Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, (GMCH-32) authorities’ failure to utilise 10-acre land in Sector 53 allotted to set up a regional trauma centre more than 15 years ago, the UT administration is mulling over setting up a 500-bed mother and child care centre there instead.
This was discussed during Wednesday’s meeting regarding “pending projects of health/medical education and research/AYUSH department”.
The meeting was chaired by UT health secretary Yashpal Garg and saw decisions being taken on 38 pending projects.
The health secretary said the Sector-53 land had remained unused for the last 15 years. “So, in case no project is conceived by GMCH-32 and keeping in view the patient load on the existing mother and child facilities in the city, a part of the land can be used for construction of an exclusive mother and child care hospital with capacity of around 500 beds,” he added.
However, GMCH-32 principal director Dr Jasbinder Kaur sought a month’s time to think over the best possible use of land. For the mother and child care centre at GMCH-32’s Block K, the director said drawings of a 348-bed centre and rough cost estimate amounting to ₹38 crore had been approved.
The decision to set up the mother and child care centre, Government Multi Specialty Hospital, Sector 16, was also discussed in the meeting. The health secretary was informed that the project could not be taken up due to the lack of space to temporarily shift the existing facility from the hospital.
The director of health services, Dr Suman Singh, spoke about the dire need for a mother and child care centre in the wake of the ever-increasing number of mothers in need of medical attention, adding, “Many times two mothers with their babies share a single bed because of the rush.”
UT chief architect Kapil Setia, meanwhile, said they were awaiting client approval for the blueprints provided to the health department over four years ago. It was decided in the meeting that a space audit may be conducted jointly by the engineering wing, architect wing and health department — both GMCH-32 and GMSH-16 — to settle on the space where the centre may be shifted during the construction period. Possibility of using the civil hospital in Sector 22 for the purpose of the centre during the construction period was also discussed.
The UT chief engineer informed the officials that around 35% work on the emergency trauma centre at GMCH-32 had also been done, adding that the project will be completed by 2023.
Work status of the hospital’s advanced infectious diseases centre and the effluent treatment plant as well as a 50-bed Ayush integrated hospital at Sector 34 were also discussed.
