AIIMS Bhubaneshwar in for a facelift

Bhubaneshwar: New developments are being proposed at AIIMS, here in order to give the institution a facelift and bring it at par with best-in-class institutions at the country. Bhubaneshwar’s AIIMS facelift is indeed like a beam in the darkness keeping in mind the medical education scenario and the availability of trained doctors, courses of study and efficiency protocol at healthcare facilities.

The new developments would entail, New doctor recruitments, department additions, longer operational hours in operation theatres, installation of mammography machine, MRI and CT scanners, health check up facilities at affordable rates, and introduction of post doctrol, post graduate and graduate medical courses. All this is geared in the direction of improving healthcare in the city and providing affordable access to the citizens of the metropolis and surrounding areas.

According to the AIIMs Director, Mr. Ashok Kumar Mahapatra, 58 new staff members have been appointed at the institute to treat and teach patients. On the demand of patients from Khurda and Nayagarh, the obstetrics and gynaecology ward have been shifted to the second floor, and the beds increased from 20 to 30. A hundred patients visit this ward on a daily basis.

Alongside the increase in operation theatre hours from 8 am to 10 pm instead of the earlier 9am to 4pm, two more operation theatres have also been added to the trauma and emergency blocks. This has been done with the aim of reducing the time of wait for patients. Rescheduling of doctor shifts have also been undertaken, according to Mahapatra.

The new CT and MRI scanners and mammography machine installations have added to the efficiency of the unit. The CT scan costing a whopping Rs. 12 crore. The CT installation according to institute sources, is one of the best high end machines in any government or private hospitals of the city. Tests such as haematology, lipid profile, ECG, ultrasound, cardiac test, and liver functioning cost a mere Rs 1,500. These tests at other hospitals cost around Rs 8,000 to Rs 10,000.

In order to improve efficiency, Thursdays have been fixed for the executive tests and patients number limited to five, explained Acting Superintendent, AIIMS, Dilip Parida.

The new departments that are to be introduced in the institute include: neurology, gastroenterology, paediatric surgery, oncosurgery, urology, neonatology, nuclear medicine, cardiology, hospital administration and medical physics. With this expansion, the number of departments at the institute will have increased to 37 as reported to

Telegraph.

The changes to be implemented in the teaching departments of the institute include offer of postgraduate courses in eight paramedical subjects, including anatomy, physiology, forensic medicine, biochemistry, and community medicine from July with two seats in each and a likelihood of 8 more subjects being added next year. A three-year course in Bachelor of Science in Medical technology, with an intake capacity of 30 is also to be introduced from this year. Offered in three streams the course will be the first of its kind to be introduced in AIIMS, Bhubaneshwar. A one-year postdoctoral fellowship programme in critical and palliative care is also being introduced at the institute in 2016.