CHANDIGARH, AUGUST20: Punjab Chief Secretary, Ms Vini Mahajan, on Friday, while reviewing theprogress of the Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital and Research Centre on site inMedicity at New Chandigarh (Mohali) was assured that the upcoming ultra-moderncancer tertiary care facility will be made operational by this November. Shealso directed all the departments concerned to extend all requisite assistancefor the early opening of this prestigious project. On her visit to theconstruction site, Ms Mahajan was apprised that the much-awaited Homi BhabhaCancer Hospital and Research Centre is in the advanced stage of completion.
Reviewing theprogress of the ambitious healthcare project, the Chief Secretary said the300-bed state-of-the-art hospital will act as a tertiary care centre for theentire northern region, comprising Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu andKashmir, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.
“The hospital willstart 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, medicaloncology, radiation oncology, palliative care preventive oncology,” she said,adding that these facilities will be available for public from Novemberonwards.
While taking stock ofthe works being executed at the hospital site, the Chief Secretary said theChief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh-led state government is fully committedto provide the best possible healthcare facilities to its citizens and theChief Minister has desired to make this medical facility available to thepeople at the earliest.
The Chief Secretarysaid the prestigious project, a unit of Tata Memorial Centre Mumbai, under theDepartment of Atomic Energy, is being set up with a sanctioned cost of Rs663.74-crore in the built up area of 40,545 square meters for which 50 acres ofland has been provided free of cost by the Punjab Government.
The cancer carecenter will be equipped with high-end diagnostic and treatment facilities suchas two linear accelerator, brachytherapy, PECT CT, bone marrow transplant(BMT), CT simulator, MR simulator, interventional radiology and surgicalfacilities, besides day-care centre, ICU and recovery units, detailed Ms Mahajan.
The hospital will befully IT-based with electronic medical records facility, informed she, whileadding that it will also be interlinked with all the Tata Memorial Centreslocated across the country. This will help the patients of this region to get onlinesuper-specialty consultation for managing various types of cancer ailmentsunder the disease management groups (DMGs), she divulged.
Besides residentialhostels for doctors and nurses and residential accommodation for faculty, thehospital also offers stay facilities for cancer patients in the specially-builtdharamshala, she said.
The Chief Secretarysaid two state-of-the-art cancer hospitals have already been functioning in thestate at Sangrur and Bathinda in Malwa region.
While Homi Bhabha CancerHospital in Sangrur has treated more than 23,000 cancer patients till date, theadvanced cancer diagnosis, treatment and research centre in Bathinda has curedmore than 2,500 cancer cases since its inception.
She informed that atertiary cancer centre was also being established in Fazilka to furtherstrengthen the cancer treatment facilities in the state. “Major civil work hasbeen completed and it is likely to start operation next year,” revealed theChief Secretary.
Ms Mahajan said morethan 65,000 cancer patients have been provided cashless treatment under theMukh Mantri Punjab Cancer Rahat Kosh Scheme at various cancer hospitals in thestate.
On completion, theproject will not only make healthcare facilities accessible to the region butwill also help in promoting medical tourism as the state government wasdeveloping Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Mohali as hubs for medical tourismthrough various initiatives.
Notably, theMedicity, which comprises sites for multi-specialty and super-specialtyhospitals, medical research institutes and housing facilities for doctors andother staff, in New Chandigarh, was spread over 250 acres in the immediatevicinity of Chandigarh PGIMER.
Principal SecretaryPWD Vivek Pratap, Director Tata Memorial Centre Mumbai Dr RA Badwe, MohaliDeputy Commissioner Girish Dayalan, Director Homi Bhabha Cancer Hospital andResearch Centre New Chandigarh Dr Rakesh Kapoor, officer in-charge HBCH&RCNew Chandigarh Dr Ashish Gulia accompanied the Chief Secretary during thevisit.