PGI seeks Centre’s nod for revised proposal

Naina Mishra

Chandigarh, April 14

Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) is taking up the revised proposal for a geriatric centre with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, according to which more budget is required to execute the project.

In March 2019, the Union Government had sanctioned a 250-bed geriatric care and rehabilitation centre at the institution under the National Programme for the Healthcare of Elderly (NPHCE) scheme. Kumar Gaurav Dhawan, Deputy Director, PGIMER, said, “A memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been sent by the Centre regarding the project, but we want the ministry to first approve the revised proposal as per which the geriatric centre will align with the needs of a tertiary care hospital. We want to build an advanced geriatric centre that will require more funds and space.”

The PGIMER has studied National Centre for Ageing (NCA) at Madras Medical College, Chennai (200 bedd) and at AIIMS, New Delhi, for setting up an exclusive geriatric centre for the northern region that will cater to elderly population of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.

The geriatric centre will have a high-level tertiary care with multidisciplinary clinical services involving medical and surgical disciplines and OPD care in various clinical disciplines. There will be special clinics for memory, fall and syncope, frail elderly persons, aids and appliances, implants and cosmetic.

When proposed in 2018, the project was estimated to cost about ?469 crore. The centre will have special focus on elderly population with 75 years of age and above. At present, elderly patients are managed by various departments at the PGI. There are no dedicated beds for them. The centre will provide affordable healthcare of better quality to them and will also help in carrying out research activities in geriatrics.