New cancer unit brings relief to patients at Nahan hospital

Cancer patients at Dr YS Parmar Medical College and Hospital, Nahan, will soon have access to improved treatment facilities with the establishment of a new four-bed day-care unit in the isolation ward. The dedicated unit, set up with the support of the National Health Mission (NHM), will provide chemotherapy, treatment and free medicines to the patients.

Until now, cancer treatment and chemotherapy sessions were being conducted in the medicine ward, where lack of space often caused difficulties for both patients and staff. Recognising this challenge, the hospital management decided to create a separate facility to ensure smoother treatment. The new unit is expected to become fully functional within the next three to four months.

Recently, an NHM team visited the hospital to review cancer care services and recommended strengthening facilities further. Following this, modern machinery and advanced medical support are to be provided in the newly created section, which is expected to ease the burden on existing wards.

The medical college continues to function from its old building, as construction of the new campus has been stalled for years. Due to space constraints, departments, including medicine, gynaecology, oncology, dental and ENT, face overcrowding, with the hospital handling an average of 1,200 patients in its OPD daily. Patients also arrive from neighbouring districts and states, adding to the pressure.

Despite these challenges, the hospital administration has been making consistent efforts to upgrade services. Principal Dr SS Dogra confirmed that the new four-bed unit for cancer patients has been set up and will soon become operational. He admitted that the lack of adequate infrastructure remains a hurdle, but assured that every possible effort is being made to provide quality healthcare.

The initiative is expected to bring much-needed relief to cancer patients of the region, many of whom had to struggle with limited facilities until now.