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| Saturday, March 18, 2000 |
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IF the Command Hospital (Western Command) Chandimandir continued to remain a command hospital only in name and not according to the medical facilities it could provide until the late-nineties, it was because the decision-makers always felt that the Army Hospital at Delhi Cantonement. (with all the super-specialities), was quite close to it. Compartively, even the Military Hospital, Jalandhar, was equipped to provide more specialised facilities than the Western Command Hospital which could boast of only one super-speciality, that is, plastic surgery.
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| Despite being a 630-bedded hospital, the
Command Hospital continued to be located in an ad hoc
accommodation in Sector 12, Chandigarh, for 27 years;
from where it shifted to its newly constructed modern
complex at Chandimandir in 1990. It was from then onwards
that a concerted effort was made to convince the
higher-ups about the justification of providing this
hospital with super-specialists and the required
equipment. That the hospital has made a remarkable progress in modernising itself over the years can be seen from the super-specialist treatment that is now available. For instance, the cardiology centre has tread mill testing (TMT) facilities for diagnosing ischaemic heart disease which is also treated here. Holter monitoring and Echo cardiogram machines are likely to be procured this year. The gastroenterology centre has facilities for endoscopy, and is likely to get video endoscopy equipment shortly. The nephrology centre has an ultra-modern dialysis unit. Planning has been done to add five more haemodialysis machines to this centre. The urology centre has all the modern facilities such as TURP-endoscopic removal of prostate. Removal of renal stones, radical cystectomy and continent neo-bladder diversion are also undertaken by this centre. A holium yag laser unit for the removal of renal stones by laser treatment is being procured now. The neuro science centre has an EEG machine at present. Two more machines i.e. digital EEG and EMG are being procured for this centre. The Radiology Department will have a CT scan centre in the near future. And the Opthalmology Department is about to establish a keratoplasty centre and an eye bank. The department will also be acquiring modern equipment such as central field visualiser, fundus camera and phaco-emulsifier besides an Nd yag laser unit. A project for the artificial limb centre which will provide rehabilitative care and aid to about 30,000 patients suffering from physical disabilities is also awaiting clearance from the Centre. Besides orthopaedic and reconstructive surgeries, the Department of Surgery has super-specialists for urology, GI surgery, neurosurgery and oncosurgery. While the neurosurgical department was added towards the end of 1998, the oncosurgery department is the latest addition. The Department of Anaesthesia is now running seven operation theatres instead of five (which were initially planned) without any increase in the staff. More than 20 operations are carried out here every day. In addition to the reconstructive super-specialities’ operations, neurosurgical, cancer, gastrointestinal, orthopaedic and maxillofacial operations are also carried out here. What goes to the credit of this department is that not a single case has been lost due to anaesthesia in the last two years. The workload of ‘‘Op Vijay’’ was very successfully handled by this department. The department is also managing a 12-bed intensive care unit and an eight-bed neonatal intensive care unit for resuscitation of premature and low birth weight babies. The hospital is running advance courses in paediatric, orthopaedic, medicine, surgery and anaesthesia for the Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC) postgraduate trainees. And its School of Nursing imparts training for Diploma in Nursing. That the work of Command Hospital, Chandimandir, has been highly appreciated by the higher authorities is proved by the fact that it has got two Sena Medals, five Chief of the Army Staff’s Commendation Cards and 21 GOC-in-C’s Commendation Cards in one year. This is the highest that any hospital in the country has got so far in such a short period. |
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The lack of modern medical facilities did
affect the medicare of serving and retired soldiers. The
worst affected among them were the patients suffering
from high-altitude sickness, who were evacuated to this
hospital from the Siachen glacier, Leh and Srinagar.
Besides, ex-servicemen and their families, who number
over three lakh in this region, felt demoralised and
insecure when they were told that they had to go to Delhi
for treatment.