The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories

HEALTH

‘Our hospital will match the West’
By Vibha Sharma
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 29 — Dr Achintya Moullick, appointed as Senior Consultant for cardiothoracic surgery at Fortis Heart Institute (FHI), a super speciality heart institute, coming up near Mohali, joins here after having worked in some of the most famous hospitals in the world. These include the Massachusetts General Hospital and UCLA Hospital in Los Angeles. Dr Moullick is also the first Asian to be inducted to the Harvard Cardiac Surgical program as a resident fellow.

Dr Moullick is in the city these days supervising final touches to the cardiac care center, built on a 8.22 acres campus covering approximately 3,00,000 square feet at an investment of about Rs 155 crore.

The highly experienced cardiothoracic surgeon specialises in adult heart surgery, paediatric heart surgery and heart transplant. The OPD of Ranbaxy-supported FHI starts functioning from January 1 next year. The surgery unit will start operating in April. Dr Moullick talked about his ‘dream project’, which he hopes will become the center of excellence, bench marked against the very best facilities internationally. In fact the center has already been awarded the best design of the year 1999 by the American Institute of Architecture in their annual conference in Houston in October, same year. Excerpts:

What kind of super specialities can be expected in this institute?

The facilities include 200-bed Super Speciality Cardiac Care Hospital. Besides, a multi-speciality OPD will cater to other patients as well. People with cardiac problems usually have multi-organ problems. To tackle all types of situations, we will also have a separate emergency facility.

Our aim is to take care of the patient at each level. For this, the institute will have a special social services wing. Patients usually face psychological problems once they encounter the fact that they have a serious heart problem. This wing will also take care of psychological needs of patients, post operation. Moreover, not only the patients but the entire family could require rehabilitation process.

Regarding other facilities, the institute will be totally paperless and film-less, the first of its kind internationally. A patient can have access to his file sitting anywhere in the world. Moreover, the hospital information system with Pacs system will ensure that doctors are able to monitor patients from anywhere. Database information will make the treatment mistake-proof.

Does this mean expensive treatment procedures for the patients?

With this hospital we hope to stop the flux towards the West. The treatment cost will certainly be lower than foreign countries and at competitive rates with the best in India. The aim is to reverse the flow of patients with world class health care delivered in a fully integrated system.

But will it be affordable to a common man?

Corporate hospital with exceptional facilities is expensive. However, our philosophy is not to make money but generate moral responsibility. There are better ways to make money than fleece the patients. Once you start giving quality care, clientele will increase, which is our ultimate aim.

To cut down unnecessary expenditure, hospital has especially designed telemedicine. A person sitting in a far-off city can avail of super specialised consultation facility from the world class doctors. Key problem in a disease is always quality of diagnosis. This will also warn people in advance about expenses that will be incurred in the treatment and they can plan accordingly. Moreover, Fortis Healthcare Limited will set up a chain of world class super speciality medical centers at different parts of Punjab to provide support to the main hospital. Patients can later avail of post treatment facilities at these centres.

Is the super speciality institute planned as a nodal point especially for Punjab?

As far as cardiac disorders are concerned, people in Punjab need to be extra careful. Incidentally it happens to be one of the states with highest incidence of coronary artery disorders in India. It is something to do with the genetic pre-disposition of the people in the state. We plan to spread awareness regarding this very fact, how to lead life and be aware of the warning signs.

What more can people expect from FHI?

A very courteous and concerned staff. Behaviour of a doctor is very important in the healing process of the patients. Unfortunately, in India. the concept is somehow lacking. It is very important for the entire family to connect with the doctor. And why only the doctor, the entire paramedic staff has to be sympathetic and concerned. We promise trained compassionate staff and an extremely transparent operative system, at each level. Dr Achintya Moullick

PUVA chamber for skin diseases at GMCH
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Set 29 — The Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32 will have the facility of Psoralen Ultra Violet A (PUVA) Chamber, for treating patients suffering from various skin diseases.

The PUVA chamber, will start functioning from tomorrow. It will provide treatment to patients of vitilego or leucoderma and psoriasis by giving ultraviolet radiation through a safe measured technique.

According to Prof A.J. Kanwar, Head, Department of Skin and VD, G.M.C.H., “With the availability of the PUVA chamber, patients suffering from various skin diseases from Chandigarh and nearby areas will be benefited.”

Under the process, the patient needs to take medicine ‘Psoralen’, which is available in various forms. According to Dr Kanwar, the medicine has to be taken in doses varying from 0.6. to 0.8 milligram per kilogram of body weight. After two hours, the patient is exposed to ultraviolet A radiations. This is the optimum time required for the medicine to be suitably absorbed by the body.

The PUVA chamber can also be used for treating skin disorders like eczema and skin lymphomas. In absence of the facility, the patients, after taking the medicine had to sit in the sun for ultraviolet radiation. The amount and quality of radiation, by direct exposure to the sun could not be monitored. PUVA chamber controls the exact amount of radiation to be administered to a patient. Moreover, this method also reduces the side effects of direct exposure to sunlight. “Unmonitored exposure to sunlight can cause carcinoma or melinoma in very fair people,” adds Dr Kanwar.

Moreover, with this method, a patient can be administered UVA or UVB radiation. UVA radiation, falling in the wavelength of 320 to 400 nanometer is suitable for adult patients suffering from vitilego. UVB falling in the wavelength, 290 to 320 nanometer is suitable for the patients of psoriasis and young children suffering from leucoderma.

SPORT

Reetinder’s half century helps PCC win
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, Sept 29 — An unbeaten knock of 51 runs by Reetinder Sodhi helped Punjab Cricket Club beat Bishnoi Club by three wickets today to enter the final of the VIIIth J.P. Attray Memorial Cricket tournament. The match was played in PCA Stadium at SAS Nagar.

J. Arun Kumar and Laxmi Rattan Shukla opened for Bishnoi Club, but could not face the hostile bowling of Gagandeep Singh and Reetinder Sodhi for long. J Arun Kumar was caught behind on five. National Cricket Academy prodigy, S.S. Das, played some elegant shots to score his fifty of just 57 deliveries.

Das and Shukla took the team to safety with the third-wicket partnership of 80 runs. Das was caught behind off the bowling of Navdeep for 53 runs. Shukla was also dismissed soon after this after making 39 runs off 46 deliveries. Skipper Munish Arora and D. Das Gupta repaired the damage to some extent, but Bishnoi Club were all out for 173.

Ravneet Ricky and Vikram Rathore opened for Punjab Cricket Club and put on 55 runs for the first wicket. PCC were 128 for six when Reetinder blasted 51 runs in 53deliveries. His knock was sudden with seven boundaries and one six. Later, Reetinder was awarded the man-of-the-match award.

Brief scores: Bishnoi CC — 173 all out in 40 overs (S.S. Das 53, L.R. Shukla 39, D. Das Gupta 24, Munish Arora 16, Harbhajan Singh 3 for 18); Punjab CC — 176 for seven in 32.1 overs (Reetinder Sodhi 51 n.o., Vikram Rathore 34, Harminder Jugnu 18, Ravneet Rickey 17, Dinesh Mongia 17, Ashish Nehra 3 for 43, Tejinder Singh 2 for 41, L.R. Shukla 2 for 49).

Roller skating
Skaters of Blue Bird School, Sector 16, Panchkula, did well in the matches organised by the Education Department of Haryana yesterday. The gold-medal winners included Shubham Narang (under-11 Section of Rink Race II), Geetika Anand (under-14), Pallavi Vashisht (under-17). Pallavi Vashisht, Neha Dwivedi, Naurin Midha and Neha Singh won silver and bronze medals respectively, in Rink Race II and road race.

Cricket meet
DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 8 beat Government Senior Secondary School, Sector 27, by 169 runs in the inaugural match of the tournament organised by the UT Cricket Association in the Sector 16 stadium here today.

Brief scores: DAV SSS-8 — 199 runs for seven wickets (Rajat Bhatia 66, Rakesh Kumar 32, Shekhar 25, A. Singh 3 for 38, Munish 2 for 30); GSSS-27 — 30 runs all out (Pritpal 5 for 16, Jagmeet Sekhon 3 for eight).

CGA office
The Chandigarh Golf Association shifted its office today from Hockey Stadium in Sector 42 to the newly-constructed CGA range. Mr D.P. Azad, President of the association, announced this here today.

Volleyball tourney
The Chandigarh Volleyball Association will hold the UT Sub-Junior and Junior State championship from October 13 to 15 in the Sector 41 Shivalik Public School here. Entries close with the Secretary of the CVA or in the school by October 12.