Punjab Chief Secretary Vini Mahajan reviews progress of Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital and Research Centre at New Chandigarh

Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, August 21

Punjab Chief Secretary Vini Mahajan on Friday while reviewing the progress of the Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital and Research Centre on site in Medicity at New Chandigarh (Mohali) was assured that the upcoming ultra-modern cancer tertiary care facility will be made operational by November.

She also directed all the departments concerned to extend all requisite assistance for the early opening of this prestigious project.

On her joint visit to the construction site with Director Tata Memorial Centre Mumbai Dr RA Badwe, Mahajan was apprised that the much-awaited Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital and Research Centre is in the advanced stage of completion.

Principal Secretary PWD Vivek Pratap, Mohali Deputy Commissioner Girish Dayalan, Director Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital and Research Centre New Chandigarh Dr Rakesh Kapoor, officer in-charge HBCH&RC New Chandigarh Dr Ashish Gulia also accompanied the Chief Secretary during the visit.

Reviewing the progress of the ambitious healthcare project, the Chief Secretary said the 300-bed state-of-the-art hospital will act as a tertiary care centre for the entire northern region, comprising Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.

“The hospital will start radiotherapy, radiology, CT scan, MRI, ultrasound, x-ray, mammography, medical oncology, chemotherapy, day-care ward, pathology and lab facilities, minor OT, besides initiating OPD services such as surgical oncology, medical oncology, radiation oncology, palliative care preventive oncology,” she said, adding that these facilities will be available for public from November onwards.

While taking stock of the works being executed at the hospital site, the Chief Secretary said Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh-led state government is fully committed to provide the best possible healthcare facilities to its citizens and the Chief Minister has desired to make this medical facility available to the people at the earliest.

The Chief Secretary said the prestigious project, a unit of Tata Memorial Centre Mumbai, under the Department of Atomic Energy, is being set up with a sanctioned cost of Rs 663.74-crore in the built up area of 40,545 square metres for which 50 acres of land has been provided free of cost by the Punjab government.

The cancer care centre will be equipped with high-end diagnostic and treatment facilities such as two linear accelerator, brachytherapy, PECT CT, bone marrow transplant (BMT), CT simulator, MR simulator, interventional radiology and surgical facilities, besides day-care centre, ICU and recovery units, detailed Mahajan.

The hospital will be fully IT-based with electronic medical records facility, informed she, while adding that it will also be interlinked with all the Tata Memorial Centres located across the country.

This will help the patients of this region to get online super-specialty consultation for managing various types of cancer ailments under the disease management groups (DMGs), she divulged.

Besides residential hostels for doctors and nurses and residential accommodation for faculty, the hospital also offers stay facilities for cancer patients in the specially-built dharamshala, she said.

The Chief Secretary said two state-of-the-art cancer hospitals have already been functioning in the state at Sangrur and Bathinda in Malwa region.

While Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital in Sangrur has treated more than 23,000 cancer patients till date, the advanced cancer diagnosis, treatment and research centre in Bathinda has cured more than 2,500 cancer cases since its inception.

She informed that a tertiary cancer centre was also being established in Fazilka to further strengthen the cancer treatment facilities in the state.

“Major civil work has been completed and it is likely to start operation next year,” revealed the Chief Secretary.

Mahajan said more than 65,000 cancer patients have been provided cashless treatment under the Mukh Mantri Punjab Cancer Rahat Kosh Scheme at various cancer hospitals in the state.