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KSSSCIH full-time director: Search for chief continues as cancer inst potential goes unrealised
The search for a full-time director for KSSSCIH began ever since its first director was removed in September 2021
The Kalyan Singh Super Speciality Cancer Institute and Hospital (KSSSCIH) was started in 2016 with the aim to make it North India’s biggest centre for cancer treatment.
As we mark World Cancer Day (February 4), this is a story about how a premier super-speciality cancer care institute is toiling to find a full-time director for itself, the absence of whom may be keeping it from reaching its full potential.
The search for a full-time director for KSSSCIH began ever since its first director, Prof Shaleen Kumar, was removed in September 2021.
The process to appoint a new director began last year and over 40 candidates applied for the post. At present, Prof RK Dhiman holds additional charge of KSSSCIH, apart from being the full-time director of the Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS), another premier institute in Uttar Pradesh.
Experts feel KSSSCIH needs more attention from authorities.
“First, I would appreciate Prof Dhiman who gave definitive growth to KSSSCIH despite working for the PGI, a challenging place to work at, with major patient load, departments and trauma centre. The KSSSCIH which is in a nascent stage, needs attention just as a new garden is given focus at every small point,” said Prof Ravi Kant, former vice-chancellor, King George’s Medical University (KGMU), who had begun clinical services at KSSSCIH.
He said, “KSSSCIH can be further developed in two ways. First, it can be merged with a premier institute such as KGMU, faculty members from where will run services along with support staff at KSSSCIH. The second option is a dedicated director.”
Senior faculty members from KGMU, SGPGIMS, Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences and several senior doctors from outside the state have applied for the post of KSSSCIH’s director.
On average, over 250 patients are seen daily in the OPD at the sprawling 100-acre campus of KSSSCIH.
In its recent plan, KSSSCIH is going to start at least eight operating theatres and add 350 more beds for patient admission in different departments.
MRI and 4D CT simulator will be made functional this year. A Centre for Advanced Molecular Diagnostic Lab will also begin next year. This apart from the ongoing process for the appointment of new faculty members and other staff.
