The Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and research (PGIMER) is planning to set up a 250-bedded geriatrics centre with an aim to provide better healthcare services to senior citizens under one roof.
As per a senior administrative officer, the proposal of the same was made by a team of doctors from the internal medicine department.
The proposal will be taken up in the standing estate committee meet, which is scheduled for the first week of May in New Delhi. If approved, the proposal will be raised before the members of standing finance committee and the governing body.
The project will cost around Rs 475 crore and prove beneficial to senior citizens, who currently have to rush to various hospitals to get their treatment done.
During its eleventh plan period, the ministry of health and family welfare had formulated a national programme for the healthcare of elderly (NPHCE) under which, the district-level hospitals were asked to set up geriatric wards.
Talking about the ordeal faced by the elderly, a doctor, requesting anonymity, said, “Most of the elderly have multiple health issues. Some even suffer with psychological problems such as depression. It is not possible for them to run from one place to another. The idea of health facilities under one roof will put them at ease.”
The PGIMER has a weekly facility of geriatrics clinic, whereas the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32, runs a daily geriatrics out-patient department (OPD).
Giving details, GMCH-32 community medicine head Dr NK Goel said, “Patients here first get examined by a team of two doctors and are then referred to the other departments.”
{{/usCountry}}Giving details, GMCH-32 community medicine head Dr NK Goel said, “Patients here first get examined by a team of two doctors and are then referred to the other departments.”
{{/usCountry}}“We make sure that the elderly are treated on priority basis,” he added.