Suhail Bhat
Srinagar, Dec 19: The trauma hospital in Bijbihara area of South Kashmir has been made functional after 12 years with the administration claiming the centre is equipped with all the facilities.
Right now, the administration has dedicated the hospital to the treatment of COVID 19 positive women in Anantnag district. However, due to a decrease in the number of COVID 19 positive pregnant women in the district, the hospital can be opened for other services as well.
The officials at the hospital said there is a single patient admitted in the hospital as the number of pregnant women testing positive have considerably decreased. They said the hospital was designated for the treatment COVID positive pregnant women in July and remained filled with patients in the beginning. “Since last month the number of patients has decreased to a large extent and we now have only one patient here,” an official said.
The hospital was sanctioned in 2008 along with 11 other such hospitals in Kashmir. The hospitals were sanctioned along the national highway to tackle trauma caused during accidents along the stretch of the highway.
Subsequently, the execution of work of the hospital was given to the Jammu and Kashmir Projects Construction Corporation (JKPCC) in 2013. The estimated cost of the project was Rs 13.4 Crore and it was to be completed within 3 years but that did not happen.
While some of the 12 sanctioned hospitals had been functioning for many years now, this hospital in Bijbehara remained incomplete. “We are happy that the hospital has finally been made functional. It will improve the healthcare of the whole district. Although the authorities took extra time for its completion, we are happy they opened it at the right time,” Bashir Ahmad, a local said.
Besides, the Sub-district hospital in Bijbehara has an unsafe building and the administration wants to shift it into the building of the Trauma hospital for the time being. “We are operating from a building which was declared unsafe after 2014. If the hospital is opened for other services we can also shift the SDH in it for some time,” he said.
Medical Superintendent of the hospital, B S Tulla, said that the hospital has helped them to tackle the COVID-19 crisis. “We dedicated this hospital to COVID-19 care because we have all the latest facilities available in the hospital. It is ready to be used for other services as well after the pandemic is over. We have good operation theatres and labour rooms here. Digital X-rays is also here and work on a new oxygen plant is underway,” he said, adding that the hospital is ready to deliver other services.
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