Total footfall at OPDS in govt hospitals risen to 6 crore: CM

Inaugurates open-heart surgery & other facilities at Rajiv Gandhi Super Specialty Hosp

NEW DELHI: The AAP dispensation has been expanding and upgrading health infrastructure and the footfall at OPDS at all government hospitals in Delhi has doubled to six crore in the last five years, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Thursday. He was addressing a gathering here after inaugurating open-heart surgery and other facilities at Rajiv Gandhi Super Specialty Hospital in east Delhi. He congratulated the hospital for the induction of state-ofthe-art facilities and said that investing in education and health are the means to become a developed nation. Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain and MLA Rajendra Pal Gautam were also present at the inauguration ceremony.

The Chief Minister said, “I am happy that so many facilities are coming up in the Rajiv Gandhi Super Specialty Hospital. I want to congratulate all the people who have supported us in initiating these facilities for the people of Delhi. I worked in Sunder Nagri for at least 10 years before coming into politics, and I used to witness the construction of this hospital during my office days from 2000-2010. The first OPD began in the year 2008, after which several OPDS were opened in 2013. The IPD began in 2016 after the formation of our government in the state. Several other facilities have been coming up thereafter.”

The facilities initiated are — Open Heart Surgery, 16 ICU beds, OT Complex, Gastroenterology, Heptatoblery, Bariatric, and Metabolic Surgery Centers. The Delhi CM said, “Rajiv Gandhi is a state-of-the-art hospital at par with private hospitals. No government could have thought that government hospitals could have facilities equal to a private hospital.”

“As our services have improved, people are shifting from private hospitals to government hospitals for treatments. Five years ago, the footfall in OPDS at all the government hospitals here stood at three crore, which has now gone up to six crore. The expansion of the healthcare sector in this regard remains a big challenge for us with the increase in facilities,” he claimed.

Jain congratulated Rajiv Gandhi hospital and said, “Rajiv Gandhi hospital is one of the super-specialty hospitals where major diseases are diagnosed and treated. The hospital has more than 200 beds and is one of the best super-specialty hospitals in the city. Conducting 500 angiography tests and 150 angioplasties within one month is a huge achievement for the hospital. Rajiv Gandhi is one of the top hospitals in Delhi for angioplasty surgeries.”