New emergency block opened at RML hospital

In a bid to lessen the dependence of severely ill patients on private hospitals, an exclusive emergency block at the Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital was opened to the public today.
The new block has more number of beds, operation theatres and more trained nurses and doctors to deal with increasing number of patients every day.
"The new emergency block is a six storey building built in an area of around 7,636 sqm and is built near the old casualty building of RML. It has 289 beds and 53 ICUs and nine High Dependent Units and three emergency operation theatres (OTs) along with a minor OT and a major OT," RML spokesperson, V K Sinha said.

The approximate cost of the construction of the building amounted to Rs 26 crore and the Block has been designed by IIT Delhi. Besides, the block is centrally air conditioned with all modern facilties. The construction of the building had started in April 2010.
"The aim is to deal with emergencies and increasing our capacity to cater to a larger population. It will serve all the poor patients free of cost and save around 20-25 lakh of the patients per day," said Sinha.
Till yesterday, there was an acute load of patients seeking emergency services as the hospital which currently was running its emergency unit with only 140 beds.

"Moreover, in case of non-availability of ventilators, we were bound to refer critically-ill patients to other hospitals," Sinha added.