AIIMS to soon get healthcare centre for aged

◗ Prime Minister inaugurated a 555bed super speciality block and a new emergency block at Safdarjung Hospital

The AIIMS will soon have a “National Centre for Ageing”, the foundation stone for which was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday. The facility aims to provide state- of- the- art clinical care to the elderly population and play a key role in guiding research in the field of geriatric medicine and related specialities.

The Centre, which will be developed at a cost of ` 330 crore, will have 200 general ward beds. These will include 20 medical ICU beds and is likely to be completed by February 2020.

During the event at AIIMS, the Prime Minister also inaugurated a 555- bed super speciality block and a new emergency block at Safdarjung Hospital. He also dedicated a 300- bed power grid Vishram Sadan in AIIMS and a “connecting motorable tunnel” between AIIMS, Ansari Nagar, and the Trauma Centre.

The underground tunnel will provide connecting facility between AIIMS and the Trauma Centre and will reduce the commute time between the two. The completed length of connectivity is approximately 1 km and has been completed at a cost of ` 44 crore.

The power- grid Vishram Sadan has a 300- bed night shelter facility meant for patients and their relatives visiting the main hospital and the trauma centre. The 11th floor facility has been constructed at a cost of ` 32.67 crore. It has been funded by the Power Grid Corporation.

The new emergency block at Safdarjung Hospital will house 64 triage beds, red zone for children and adults, and 90 ICU beds for victims of road traffic accidents, acute trauma suffered by individuals at home or at work, acute poisoning, and severe medical and surgical emergencies. The block has been developed at a cost of ` 346 crore.

The super speciality block at Safdarjung Hospital holds tertiary care facilities in the areas of cardiovascular sciences, neurosciences, pulmonary medicine, nephrology, and endocrinology.