PCMC to start dedicated geriatric centre for elderly

Pune's Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) is set to open a comprehensive geriatric care facility at the old Talera Hospital in Chinchwad to provide holistic healthcare to senior citizens. The facility will offer specialized care and all required healthcare facilities under one roof. The PCMC has also asked senior citizens for suggestions on additional facilities they would like to see at the center. The new facility will be completed in the next three months.

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To cater to the large elderly and vulnerable population in Pimpri-Chinchwad and surrounding areas, the civic body has decided to help them with healthy ageing, Shekhar Singh said. (HT HOTO)

With an aim to provide holistic healthcare to senior citizens under one roof, the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) has decided to start a comprehensive geriatric care facility at the old Talera Hospital in Chinchwad.

To cater to the large elderly and vulnerable population in Pimpri-Chinchwad and surrounding areas, the civic body has decided to help them with healthy ageing. The facilities at the Talera hospital will be started in the next three months, said the officials.

Shekhar Singh, commissioner of PCMC, said, the old Talera hospital will be shifting to a new building and bigger facility and the work will be completed in a couple of months. After the old Talera hospital is shifted to a new facility the old Talera hospital will be renovated and the geriatric care facility will be started, informed Singh.

Geriatric care is a speciality of medicine that focuses on treating the effects of ageing.

Singh further informed that the geriatric care facility will have all the required healthcare facilities along with specialities for the elderly population.

“We will hire specialised doctors or take them as consultants for the geriatric centre. This will help the elderly to avail specialised healthcare facilities under one roof. We have also asked the senior citizens to suggest what other facilities they require at the centre,” he said.

The geriatrics care facility will have dedicated OPD and emergency services, besides adequate diagnostic provision with easy access to healthcare, the officials said.

Singh further informed, that to avoid overcrowding for regular ailments authorities have decentralised some of the healthcare facilities.

“Facilities like dental, ophthalmology amongst others are made available at other PCMC-run healthcare facilities. However, treatment for specialized geriatric care will be exclusively available at the old Talera hospital,” he added.