Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Apr 21: The Government has set April 30 deadline for shifting of six Super Specialties to the newly constructed Super Specialty Hospital at Resham Ghar Colony adjacent to the Government Medical College (GMC), Jammu and hoped that the Departments would run despite some shortage of faculty and infrastructure.
The deadline means that the Super Specialty Hospital constructed at a cost of over Rs 120 crores by the Union and the State Governments would be functional by the end of this month.
Commissioner/Secretary, Health and Medical Education Department, Manoj K Dwivedi told the Excelsior that the Department has set April 30, 2013 deadline for the GMC authorities for shifting all six departments from the GMC Jammu to the Super Specialty Hospital.
“The GMC authorities have been conveyed the deadline and asked to brief the Heads of all six Departments to make necessary arrangements for shifting the Departments to the new complex, which has come up at Resham Ghar,’’ Mr Dwivedi said.
Admitting that there was still some shortage of faculty and infrastructure, the Commissioner/Secretary Health and Medical Education Department, however, said that this would be overcome in due course of time.
“Some problems would always be there. Once the departments are shifted, the problems would automatically be identified and overcome,’’ Mr Dwivedi said.
He added that the GMC authorities have been asked to stick to the deadline of April 30.
Six super specialties, which were due to be shifted to the new hospital, are Cardiology, Cardio Thoracic Vascular Surgery (CCTVS), Nephrology, Urology, Neurology and Neuro Surgery.
Sources said the GMC authorities and the HoDs too were not averse to shifting of six Super Specialties to the new complex but some of them were concerned about the shortage of Resident Doctors and infrastructure.
Another problem in the new complex was non-existent of Emergency wing. The Emergency patients would have to undergo treatment in the GMC Jammu and then shifted to the Super Specialty.
The medical experts were of the view that an Emergency wing should be created for the Super Specialties at the new complex itself so that they functioned independently.
Sources said barring these hiccups, all other facilities were ready in the new complex to house the six departments. The new complex has been constructed at a cost of over Rs 120 crores with about Rs 100 crores share from the Central Government and nearly Rs 20 crores from the State.
Initially, Atal Behari Vajpayee led NDA Government had announced the construction of a hospital on the pattern of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Jammu and other States at the fag end of its term in February 2004. A high powered committee of Super Specialists from different parts of the country was constituted to select the site for the AIIMS like hospital.
Later, the Government was told that only upgradation of the GMC Jammu at a cost of Rs 120 crores (with Rs 20 crore share from the State) had been sanctioned and not a new hospital. The site identified at Narwal for construction of an AIIMS like hospital was, thus, rendered irrelevant as it fell beyond five kilometers from the present GMC Jammu. As per the guidelines, a wing of the Medical College can’t be located at a distance beyond five kilometers. A proposal to convert CD Hospital for housing Super Specialties was also shelved.
Later, the Government purchased land from Sericulture Department at Resham Ghar and started the work on the Super Specialty hospital.
According to sources, the shifting of six super specialties from the GMC Jammu to newly constructed complex would lower the burden on the GMC giving a sigh of relief to the patients of other departments. Presently, in some Wards, the patients had to suffer due to overcrowding in the hospital.
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