Big push to state paediatric healthcare on the anvil

Nitin Jain

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, October 8

To thwart the possible third Covid wave and strengthen the existing healthcare system, a big push to the paediatric health services is on the anvil in the state, the government has said.

A whopping 1,114 additional beds, including 790 level 2 and 324 level 3, will be added to district hospitals and medical colleges across the state, a senior government functionary told The Tribune, here on Friday. The development assumes significance as a large number of critical and serious patients in dire need of hospitalisation and life support were not able to get hospital beds during the devastating second Covid wave as the health infrastructure was completely hard-pressed with both government and private hospitals left with no vacant beds, mainly in May.

According to the proposal prepared by the state government, a copy of which is with The Tribune, as many as 946 beds, including 670 level 2 and 276 level 3, will be added to district hospitals while 168 more beds, comprising 120 level 2 and 48 level 3, will be supplemented to the four medical colleges in the state, exclusively for the paediatric health services.

At present, there are 90 level 2 beds for paediatric care in the district hospitals while 91 beds, including 54 NICU and 37 PICU, were available in the three medical colleges in the state.

Under the proposed bed augmentation, 30 level 2 beds and 12 level 3 beds will be added to each of the total 23 district hospitals and all four medical colleges in Amritsar, Faridkot, Patiala, and Mohali (upcoming).

Besides, the government has also proposed to add 3,518 level 2 beds and 145 level 3 beds for adult patients to the district hospitals of the state.

With this, the total bed count will reach 14,701 level 2, including 11,183 existing and 3,518 proposed, and 3,163 level 3, including 3,018 existing and 145 proposed at both government and private hospitals in the state.

“The private sector is being encouraged to add more level 2 and 3 beds to facilitate the maximum patients requiring hospitalisation in case of any emergency,” the official said.