Cuttack: The Sriram Chandra Bhanja Medical College and Hospital (SCBMCH) here is all set to witness a phenomenal change in its infrastructure very soon as the state government has sanctioned Rs 100 crore for the purpose.
According to sources, the Health department has planned to set up a dedicated infectious diseases (ID) department at SCBMCH for people suffering from dengue, swine flu, anthrax, rabies and diarrhoea. The Health department would construct an eight-storey building near the dermatology department of the hospital for the proposed ID department, it is learnt.
While the ground floor of the eight-storey building would house the administrative cell of the department, the first floor would have intensive care units (ICUs). Similarly, the top floor would have the swine flu ward while the remaining floors would be utilised for treatment of people suffering from other infectious diseases, sources said.
“These proposals have been finalised in presence of Health Minister Pratap Jena and departmental secretary Pramod Kumar Meherda. The Works department has prepared a design for the eight-storey building. SCBMCH would be the first government-run hospital in the country to have a separate department for infectious diseases,” said SCB Medical College principal Siddhartha Das.
According to Das, setting up of a separate ID department would help reduce the burden on other departments too.
“Infectious and seasonal diseases have become a challenge for us. At present, we are facing problems in treating dengue and swine flu patients simultaneously. Now, critically-ill dengue patients are being treated at Medicine department’s ICUs or central ICUs. The proposed ID department would have 50 ICUs to treat critical patients,” Das said.
Likewise, the state government has also decided to construct an air-conditioned indoor hall on SCBMCH premises. The project would cost around Rs 10 crore, sources added.