PGI to have 150-bed critical care block

Tribune News Service

Naina Mishra

Chandigarh, March 13

Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) here is planning to set up an exclusive critical care block for the patients suffering from life-threatening diseases.

Infra upgrade to face pandemics

The need for an exclusive critical care block was felt during the Covid-19 pandemic when the healthcare infrastructure got overburdened. The Centre has asked the tertiary care hospitals interested in setting up a critical care block and we had consented for the same. — Gaurav Dhawan, Deputy Director, PGI

The critical care building at the PGIMER is proposed under the PM Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission, which has been aimed at preparing the country’s health infrastructure to face future pandemics like Covid-19.

The PM-ABHIM is the largest pan-India scheme for strengthening healthcare infrastructure across the country which focuses on the primary, secondary and tertiary care services. The major aim of the scheme is to establish a health system which responds effectively to the future pandemics/disasters.

The project worth Rs120 crore will be funded by the Centre and the modalities will be finalised soon after obtaining an approval from the Centre. The Central Government has planned critical care hospital blocks in 12 government hospitals which will also act as mentor institutions for training and capacity building.

It has been proposed that there will be 100 or 150 beds for critical patients’ care and each specialty will have a different set of beds earmarked for their patients.

Gaurav Dhawan, Deputy Director, PGIMER, said, “The need for an exclusive critical care block was felt during the covid-19 pandemic when the healthcare infrastructure got overburdened with unrelenting inflow of patients. The Central Government has asked the tertiary care hospitals interested in setting up a critical care block and we had consented for the same. We are awaiting an approval for the project now. A separate building will be earmarked for the same.”

During the second wave of Covid-19, the PGIMER had to dedicate more than 250 critical beds for Covid patients and all of them were occupied by the patients. The institute had even reserved an entire building (Nehru Extension Block) for Covid-19 patients since 2019.

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