AIIMS Cousin In Raiganj Promises To Be One Of The Best Hospitals In The East

Quality treatment at low cost
AIIMS Cousin In Raiganj Promises To Be One Of The Best Hospitals In The East
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Kolkata/Raiganj: With 960 beds, the proposed AIIMS-like hospital in North Dinajpur’s Raiganj is said to be one of the largest hospital-cum-medical colleges not only in the state but also in the eastern region. Facilities like a 100-bed intensive care unit, a trauma care centre and 300-beds for super-speciality and speciality disciplines are something unheard of in this part of the country. But the biggest advantages that patients are likely to enjoy are the cost factor and the quality assurance. For example, bypass surgery at any of the private hospitals costs something between Rs 1.5 lakh and Rs 3 lakh. At the AIIMS (ALL India Institute of Medical Sciences), the same surgery costs Rs 75,000-80,000. “Most patients can’t afford treatment at private hospitals. In case of gastro-intestinal surgery, the hospital offers a procedure at Rs 40,000. The same at any private hospital, even in Kolkata, will be more than double,” said Sanjay De Bakshi, a gastro-intestinal surgeon. The hospital and medical college will be catering to a huge area comprising the entire North Bengal, including Darjeeling hills, Sikkim and the north-eastern states. Even these states have to depend on Kolkata for treatment. “Once the hospital is ready, nobody from North Bengal will have to come to Kolkata. Though some hospitals have come up in the region, people still flock to Kolkata for treatment. A centrally-controlled autonomous institute has its own advantage,” said Prabir Sur, former director of IPGMER. Work on upgrading Medical College Hospital (MCH) is going on though at a slower pace than the deadline demanded. Viceprincipal Anup Roy admitted that there was a delay in the ongoing construction. “Though we were supposed to complete the construction in a year’s time, that was not possible. The entire building and infrastructure will be ready by this July,” he said. The Centre is spending Rs 100 crore on upgrading the hospital. The upgrading of MCH is nothing compared to what the Centre has planned for Raiganj. Among the disciplines that are likely to come up at the Raiganj hospital — work for which will begin in April 2009 — are neurology (including paediatric neurology) neurosurgery, nephrology, urology, gastro-enterology, cardio-thoracic surgery, an integrated unit for medical, surgical and radiation oncology, trauma care, plastic surgery, ophthalmology and rheumatology. Hepato-biliary and pancreatic surgery is one of the key disciplines on offer at AIIMS. In West Bengal, apart from liver transplant, pancraetic surgeries are carried out, but costs are high. There is also a specialised centre for curing drug dependency. Boost to healthcare What is it? 100-seat medical college and 960-bed hospital Where? Panishala, 10 km from Raiganj Time of completion: 3 years Land required: 100 acre Nature of land: Both government and private owned. The DM said acquisition won’t be a problem Likely to benefit: North and South Dinajpur, Malda, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar Problem: Connectivity, as NH-34 is the only road link