Lifts at district hospital get operational after 12 years

Nitin Jain

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, August 14

It took over 12 years for the two lifts at the district hospital in Ludhiana to become operational after they had stopped working in early 2012.

With this, patients, attendants, doctors, paramedics and other staff at the state’s one of biggest district health facilities, with daily OPD exceeding 1,100 patients, heaved a sigh of relief. This was done under the ongoing renovation and upgradation of the hospital, which has also picked up pace.

Confirming the development, SMO Dr Deepika Goyal told The Tribune on Wednesday that both the lifts have been made operational, which she said would provide a major relief to the patients, attendants and the staff.

She said the hospital authorities have also moved a requisition for a regular lift operator.

Under this first-ever major revamp project, the district hospital would get a new look by end of this year.

The ailing healthcare services at the district hospital were being overhauled at the cost of Rs 10 crore.

The project is the handiwork of Rajya Sabha MP from Ludhiana, Sanjeev Arora, who has adopted three district hospitals for complete renovation and upgradation in the state.

Besides Ludhiana, the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) member in the Upper House of Parliament from Punjab has undertaken the task to overhaul the health facilities at Jalandhar and Sangrur, the home district of Chief Minister, Bhagwant Mann, as well.

In a first-of-its-kind initiative, the major philanthropist project would entail revamp of civil works and upgradation of health facilities to raise them at par with the private hospitals.

The present ailing state of the Ludhiana hospital could be gauged from the fact that both lifts in the hospital were out of order for the past over 12 years, the sewerage system was almost blocked for the past over a decade, the rodents were posing a major health and safety risk to the patients and their attendants, most of the ceilings were leaking, and the centralised air-conditioning was also out of order for the past long time.

Taking cognisance of all these perennial problems, Arora has issued necessary directions to his team of experts put on the job and the concerned government departments to initiate immediate requisite steps for addressing the issues being faced by the patients and staffers at the district hospital.

He said a new lift was also being installed and the sewerage system was being revamped to get rid of the decade-long blockage trouble, while the age-old garbage dump in the backyard of the hospital has already been removed to get rid of a breeding ground for rodents, mosquitoes and flies.

The work to re-plaster the leaking ceilings, repair the centralised air-conditioning plant, and relay internal roads and pavements with a provision for mobility of wheelchairs and making them user-friendly for the disabled and aged was in the advanced stage.

He disclosed that besides undertaking the civil works, new medical equipment would also be provided at the district hospital. “We have got a list from the hospital authorities on their requirements, which are being met for providing the best healthcare facilities to the ailing humanity,” the parliamentarian said.