₹657-crore plan to add 1,716 beds in 4 Delhi govt hospitals
THE PROJECT IS A PART OF THE REMODELLING OF SEVEN HOSPITALS TO ADD 2,546 BEDS ANNOUNCED BY SISODIA
NEW DELHI: The Delhi cabinet on Wednesday approved a ₹657crore project to add 1,716 more beds to four of its hospitals.
The latest move will add to the existing 10,329 beds in 33 of its hospitals, according to the latest estimates provided by the Delhi government in 2016. The current bed strength at these four hospitals is 1,225.
The project is a part of the remodelling of seven hospitals to add 2,546 beds announced by the deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia in this year’s budget. The minister had proposed an outlay of ₹450 crore for the remodelling of the hospitals and construction of the three new such facilities.
No deadline, however, has been announced by the government.
“This project will increase the capacity by 2.5 times in the four hospitals. In fact, Guru Gobind Singh hospital was just a 100-bed facility and wasn’t able to offer all services, but with the addition of 472 beds, the hospital will become a more than 500-bed multispeciality facility,” Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain said.
Under the project approved by the cabinet, the 325-bed Bhagwan Mahavir hospital in Pitam Pura will get 419 additional beds, the 100-bed Guru Gobind Singh hospital i n Raghubir Nagar will get a new block with 472 more beds, and 300-bed Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital in Mongolpuri will get a new block with 362 beds for trauma and other services.
A 463-bed new block will come up at Baba Saheb Ambedkar hospital in Rohini for mother and child care. The hospital currently has 500 beds.
This is part of the government’s plan to increase bed strength in the 33 existing and three upcoming hospitals from 10,000 to 20,000.
Right now, the hospital bed to population ratio i n Delhi, including beds in the private sector and other government hospitals, is just 2.7 per 1,000 persons. The WHO (World Health Organisation) recommendation is to have 5 beds per 1,000 population,” said Jain.