district hospital to get facelift, advancement, courtesy MP

Tribune News Service

Nitin Jain

Ludhiana, December 30

The ailing healthcare services at the district hospital here would soon be a thing of the past as the work to revamp and upgrade the health facility at the biggest and largest district headquarters, in terms of area and population, in the state has begun.

It has been taken up by Rajya Sabha MP from Ludhiana, Sanjeev Arora, who had adopted three district hospitals (DHs) for complete renovation and upgrade in the state.

Besides Ludhiana, the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) member in the Upper House of Parliament from Punjab has undertaken the task to overhaul the health facilities at Hoshiarpur and Sangrur, the home district of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann as well.

The major philanthropist project would entail revamp of civil works and upgrade of health facilities to raise them at par with the private hospitals.

A decision to this effect was taken at a high-level meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, in Chandigarh recently. Health Minister Balbir Singh and top functionaries of the Health Department, besides Arora, attended the meeting.

The MP told The Tribune here on Saturday that two separate surveys to assess the present situation and plan required services with respect to civil and health facilities had already been initiated and consultants hired for the job were expected to submit detailed reports within the next fortnight, following which the work on revamp and upgrade of the civil and medical services would begin.

Arora said the surveys would report the present situation of buildings, other civil infrastructure and health facilities available at these three district hospitals, besides recommending the required civil works and medical services to undertake major revamp and upgrade of the facilities.

He said estimates of expenditure required would also be projected by the surveys and funds would be made available through corporate social responsibility (CSR), MPLADS funds, and other sources.

“Our aim is to develop the three district hospitals as model health facilities in the state and take up a similar revamp and upgrade of remaining hospitals in the next phase,” the MP expressed while assuring that the three hospitals would be revamped and upgraded in one year.

At present, the Ludhiana district hospital has a capacity of 300 beds with 290 functional beds while Hoshiarpur and Sangrur have 200 and 100 bed facilities, respectively.

As per the minutes of the meeting, the issue of upgrade of secondary health facilities was deliberated and it was decided that the work on the three hospitals at Ludhiana, Hoshiarpur and Sangrur, would begin in the current financial year.

It was also decided that any new addition of infrastructure and civil works in these upgraded hospitals would be undertaken as per the Indian Public Health Standards norms. Moreover, uniformity in planning would be maintained.

On CM’s desire

It was after the CM desired that some philanthropist industrial houses may adopt some of the district hospitals for upgrade that leading industrialist-turned-politician Sanjeev Arora volunteered to adopt three facilities and coordinate and lead the planning as well as execution efforts to upgrade them under the CSR and the MPLADS. Hailing his initiative, the CM assured that all necessary government support would be provided for the project.

Scope of work

As per preliminary reports, the repair of two existing non-functional lifts on the mother and child care hospital campus, two new lifts, one each in the emergency ward and the old hospital building, repair and renovation of structures and buildings, relaying internal roads and passages, landscaping and upgrade of the fire-fighting and life safety systems would be undertaken at the district hospital. Besides, the entire hospital and blood bank would also undergo a major overhaul.

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