SGPC offers med institute for suspected patients

GS Paul

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, April 27

The SGPC has now offered its medical institute to the government to combat Covid. Apart from Sri Guru Ram Das Medical College and Hospital (SGRDMCH) in Amritsar and inns, the SGPC has now opened the door of its Miri Piri Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (MPIMSR) in Shahabad (Kurukshetra) to suspected patients.

SGPC president Gobind Singh Longowal, who is also the chairperson of Miri Piri Trust, said at the MPIMSR, a 10-bed ICU had been kept on standby.

Also, a lab and medical testing facilities were opened on “special” rates for patients.

“Senior citizens and patients belonging to weaker sections have been exempted from paying admission, emergency and revisiting charges. Our hospitals already charge charitable rates for medical tests, but now we are offering 10 per cent discount on tests like the MRI, which is done for Rs 2,000 and CT scan for Rs 1,000, which is just half of what is charged by other labs,” he said.

In this 50-bed hospital, an MRI scanning machine worth Rs 6 crore was installed in November. The MPIMSR is Kurukshetra’s biggest hospital, where an estimated 1.5 lakh patients visit the OPDs annually and around 4,000 major and minor operations are conducted. “Four suspected patients were kept in the isolation ward and discharged after they recovered,” he said.

At Sri Guru Ramdas Hospital, 300 beds and 10 ventilators have been kept for symptomatic patients. Recently, rapid antibody testing complying with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) recommendation was started here.

A special chamber has been designed for testing. While recognising the services of frontline workers, the SGPC has announced free paramedical courses at the SGRDMCH (Amritsar) for the wards of the health staff, media, police and others engaged in essential services.

There will be full fee concession for the entire course during 2020-2021 for paramedical courses running at Sri Guru Ramdas Medical University for their children.

The courses (degree and diploma) include nursing, anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, anaesthesia technology, medical laboratory technology, operation theatre technology, cath lab technology, physiotherapy, optometry, radiology and imaging technology.