Chandigarh: GMCH 32, emergency ward expansion plan approved

Chandigarh: The UT administration has approved the expansion of a new emergency ward to ease off the patient rush at Government Medical College and hospital ( GMCH) 32.

The process of easing the patient rus will begin with the new building getting interconnected to the existing emergency which has only 35 beds for a patient rush of a 150 per day in the emergency.

The parking adjacent to the block A of the emergency is the area chosen for the new ward. The new expansion area shall be four-storey building with two storeys' at the basement and the other two storeys' with a 100 bed capacity.

"We have a huge patient inflow at the emergency and only few hands to manage them. With this additional space and manpower, there is a scope to manage the rush," said Dr Atul Sachdev, Director Principal, GMCH.

He said, "The plan of the building has been approved and we have also sent a request to MCI to enhance number of MD seats in medicine from three to nine. This is to get more senior residents to help in easing off rush during emergency."

The emergency medicine has the major rush of patients with a bed strength of only 20."The number of patients varies from season to season. During dengue, we had over 150 patients, but otherwise we see about 70 patients in the emergency," said a faculty member at GMCH. In the absence of beds, patients are seen on trolleys and stretchers lying around corridors. GMCH caters to patients from across adjoining states of Punjab and Haryana. "The emergency is 200% occupied at any time. With the new extension building, there will be beds for the patients who can be well-attended. The building will be connected with the main emergency block," said Dr Atul.