The Administrative Council (AC), chaired by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, met here on Saturday and was given administrative sanction for the development of a 500-bed pediatric hospital in Bemina, Srinagar.
Once operational, the hospital will strengthen the pediatric care facilities in the Kashmir division, ease the burden of the patient load on the existing tertiary level hospital, and ensure quality maternity, neonatal and pediatric care to the patients, an official handout said.
The project will be upgrading vital pediatric facilities on modern grounds and will be completed at an estimated cost of Rs 114.81 crore.
The new hospital will be equipped with all modern equipment for managing the high-risk pediatric cases to further reduce the infant mortality rate.
It will also serve as the Centre of Excellence in pediatric care in the Kashmir division, the official handout said.
The construction of a 500-bed Mother-Child Hospital (MCH) is in full swing in the Bemina region of Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir.
“The construction work is being done by the Roads and Bridges (R&B) department of Jammu and Kashmir.
This 500-bed Mother-Child Hospital (MCH) will help the patients from both north and central Kashmir, as it is being constructed at the
bypass road which is quite accessible. Other hospitals are already grappling with workload and staff shortage, thus affecting health care,” said Riyaz Butt, Assistant Engineer of R&B.
Echoing the same opinion, Ejaz Ahmad a local resident said: “The overload of the Lal Ded hospital could be gauged by the fact that there were around 23,000 deliveries every year. Both the (Lal Ded and GB Pant) hospitals are nearly 3 km away from each other. As a result, the patients and their attendants face a lot of inconveniences”.
“We appeal authorities to complete the work on this important hospital so that patients’ care facilities are improved,” he
added