Chandigarh: Coming Soon, A Direct Corridor Between PGIMER's ...

With an aim to provide ease of access to patients and their attendants, the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) is setting up a direct corridor between its Nehru Hospital and Nehru Hospital Extension (NHE) block.

For over two years, the NHE block has been dedicated to Covid care. But since the cases have been declining in the region, PGIMER is planning to utilise the block for other departments.

The 334-bed facility features 10 modular operation theatres with 99.9% bacteria-free atmosphere. A few rooms are also being used by the endocrinology department, apart from those already reserved for faculty members of various departments.

Nehru Hospital, a 1,400-bed facility, has 98 rooms in five private wards and two research blocks for basic sciences. It also has state-of-the-art diagnostic facilities like PET scan, Gamma Knife, CT scan, spiral CT, 3T-MRI, ultrasound, digital X-ray, DSA and SPECT scan. Besides NHE block, these are accessed by the Emergency and Trauma Centre as well.

However, in the absence of a corridor, patients requiring diagnosis are forced to take the roads outside on stretchers and wheelchairs.

“An indoor corridor is being set up at a cost of ₹2.5 crore to connect the two hospitals for easy access of patient care facilities. In routine, especially amid rain, it is difficult for the patients of NHE block to get medical tests done at Nehru Hospital,” said Kumar Gaurav Dhawan, deputy director, administration, PGIMER.

He added, “During the pandemic’s peak in January this year, over 200 patients were admitted in the NHE block, but with cases receding, most beds are vacant. Soon, we will shift four departments — otolaryngology (ENT), radiotherapy and oncology, endocrinology, and hepatology – there. So, the corridor is much needed.”

Dhawan added that the construction work of the corridor was nearing completion and it will be made operational soon.