SHAKEELA ANDRABI
SRINAGAR: After missing more than 4 deadlines consecutively during last eight years, the 500-bedded Pediatric hospital in Bemina, Srinagar has at last started functioning with OPD services launched for people on October 26. This hospital was one of the most awaited and much-needed development projects in Kashmir and has come up at an estimated cost of Rs 115 crore.
Earlier designated as Mother & Childcare Institute, the hospital was declared to be established as a full-fledged pediatric hospital with 500 bed capacity in 2019. Work on the hospital, earlier proposed to be a 200-bedded maternity care facility, started in 2013 during National Conference (NC) regime. However, former Chief Minister, Late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed on October 17, 2015 gave it an extension and laid Foundation Stone for the 500-bedded Mother-Child Hospital. Later in 2019, Government accorded sanction to conversion of 200-bedded Maternity Hospital and 300-bedded Pediatric Hospital at Bemina, Srinagar into a full-fledged 500-bedded Children’s Hospital.
However, R&B officials, several times, claimed that due to change in plan there was delay in completion of project, but now majority portion has been completed while remaining work is under progress. September-2014 floods caused major damage to the under-construction building, and that was also one of the major causes for the delay, the officials added.
Meanwhile, Department of Pediatrics at GB Pant Hospital said that OPD will function from two locations till GB Pant is completely vacated and patients are independent to choose location wherever they want to go. “We have made arrangements for basic diagnostics at new location also, however, it will take us a while to become operational in a full-fledged manner,” officials asserted.
It is believed that once the hospital is fully operational, it will lessen the burden on GB Pant Hospital which often remains overcrowded due to huge patient rush. Officials expressed confidence that hospital would not only provide relief to patients from North and central Kashmir, but would also act as a main referral institution for other patients.
Meanwhile, Health & Medical Education Department has also confirmed the development and said the OPD services in pediatric hospital at Bemina has started from October 26 and process of shifting GB Pant hospital will be done in a phased manner. In a tweet by Health & Medical Education Department J&K, it was stated that with formal inauguration of 500-bedded pediatric hospital phase 1 in Bemina Srinagar, its OPD services will start from October 26. According to the officials, the new pediatric health facility will further reduce the newborn mortality rate as facility is equipped with all latest equipment for addressing high-risk pediatric illnesses. As per an official release issued earlier, the new facility would act as Kashmir division’s pediatric care centre of excellence.
Earlier, Union Home Minister, Amit Shah, who was on a visit to Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, virtually inaugurated 500-bedded-pediatric hospital in Bemina from SKICC, Srinagar. Notably, this was Shah’s first visit to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir after abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A.