BS RAWAT

NEW DELHI: The massive new Emergency Block at the Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi will soon be opened and will make it the biggest trauma center in the government sector in India, even bigger than the neighbouring AIIMS-Delhi.

A newly-built Emergency Block will shortly be launched at the Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi, offering enhanced, round-the-clock emergency services to the residents of India's national capital and nearby regions.

The emergency center with 500 beds is much larger than the existing facility. It may be noted that the new emergency Block has nearly 100 ICU beds and 17 operation theaters, making it the largest for any public hospital in the country, said a spokesman of the hospital on August 3, 2017.

Dr Jagdish Prasad, India's director-general of health services (DGHS),  who inspected the center, said that this emergency block is all set to be functional soon.

At present, the hospital has about 1,600 beds, including 80 ICU beds with ventilator support. The institute also has provision for a paid ward in the upcoming super-specialty block. The objective is to persuade CGHS beneficiaries to get treatment at the hospital, instead of getting operated upon at private facilities and seeking reimbursements.

The facility will have specialist trauma surgeons, general surgeons, orthopaedic surgeons, neurosurgeons, and urology, ENT, and ophthalmology specialists. It also has a separate paediatric emergency care unit.

Apart from this, there is an ultra-high tech Radiology Block, in which all necessary facilities including MRI, CT Scan, Ultrasound and X-ray have been provided.