A 500-bed hospital at Bemina is set to strengthen the pediatric healthcare in Srinagar which will be a major boost to the pediatric specialties in Kashmir.
The 500-bedded Hospital is set to change the concept of Pediatric Healthcare in Kashmir with many specialties already spanning out – Pediatric Cardiology, Pediatric Gastroenterology, Pediatric Neurology, Pediatric Ophthalmology, Pediatric Nephrology, Pediatric Surgery, Pediatric Hematology, Pediatric Orthopedics, Pediatric Surgery and Pediatric Nutrition.
“We have waited too long to get a decent hospital in order to offer the best medical care to pediatric population of Kashmir and beyond,” said Prof Muzaffar Jan, head department of Pediatrics at the hospital.
He said a beginning had already been made and the department has deputed staff and started facilities at the Bemina premises. “We are shifting phase-wise and today, we already saw many patients at our new location,” he said.
Prof Jan said the administration and the GMC were working in tandem to give the finishing touches to the 500 bedded hospital. “It is unbelievable how much progress we have made in the last few months and hopefully, by December, the new hospital will be our full fledged location,” he said.
Calling the 500-bedded Hospital the “Dream Project” of his colleagues, the present and the previous ones, he said with the facility in place, the need to seek medical care outside the UT for complex issues requiring super-specialist treatment would be eliminated.
“We would be able to offer every sub and super specialty under one roof and this would be a boon to the people of Kashmir and even in other districts outside the division,” he said. He further said that at present, children requiring specialist treatment have no choice but to shuttle between the hospitals. “If there is surgical problem, we send the patient to SMHS, if there is a bone issue, we send to Barzulla (referring to Bone and Joint Hospital) but now this will change with state-of-art multi-specialties under one roof,” he said.
For many years, due to the space constraints at GB Pant Hospital, a number of beds in the wards of the Pediatric Hospital accommodated more than one sick child.
