E-Paper
Sassoon’s 11-floor new bldg to open to non Covid-19 patients in a month
Four departments namely orthopaedic, paediatric, ophthalmology and ENT (ear-nose-throat) will be functional in the new building
PUNE The new, 11-floored building at Sassoon general hospital which became operational after 11 years due to the pandemic will now open up for non Covid-19 patients in a month’s time. Four departments namely orthopaedic, paediatric, ophthalmology and ENT (ear-nose-throat) will be functional in the new building which has a capacity of about 550 beds. This will take the total capacity of the hospital to over 1,200 (beds). With increased capacity, the hospital had also applied for an increase in the number of medical seats however the pandemic delayed the physical inspection process and hence, the upgrade could not be carried out in this year’s admission.
Dr Vinayak Kale, dean, BJ medical college and Sassoon general hospital, said, “The new building has a capacity of 550 beds and the total capacity of Sassoon general hospital currently is about 1,296 beds. The new departments have already started shifting patients to the new building as currently there are no Covid-19 patients in the hospital. As soon as these four departments are shifted and the patients are accommodated in the respective wards, the old building will be available for super-specialty wards and operation theatres. This will increase the bed capacity of the hospital for which we also need more manpower. For this, we have applied to the National Medical Commission (NMC) for 50 more seats under various departments for post-graduate courses however we are yet to get any response from them yet.”
Dr Kale said that within a month, all patients admitted in these four departments, orthopaedic, ophthalmology, paediatric and ENT will be shifted to the new hospital. “Final finishing work and minor upgrades are pending which is in process but we have started shifting patients as and when space is ready.”
Dr Dilip Govindrao Mhaisekar, director, Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER), said, “We had applied for additional seats under PG courses for various medical colleges but in the last two years due to Covid-19, physical inspection by the NMC was pending and so, the approval could not come in. B J medical college had applied for the same in April 2021 however the physical inspection could not take place which has started now.”
The 11-floored building located within the current Sassoon general hospital premises has been in the works for the past 11 years. The expansion of the hospital was first proposed right after the H1N1 or swine flu pandemic however due to the lack of will from both the political and administrative wings of the government, the project remained in the pipeline since 2010. However when the Covid-19 pandemic struck and demand for beds rose multiple times, the administration and government swung into action to start building within a few months. This has now helped patients, especially those below the poverty line to get good quality healthcare from public hospitals.
