Delhi government today decided to to make space for an additional 338 beds in Ambedkar Nagar hospital, which is currently under construction, in south Delhi by making some changes in its design.
The announcement for the much delayed Ambedkar Nagar hospital was made as early as 2010 which is being built on a 2.47 acre plot.
"The under construction hospital at present has a provision of 262 beds, with the construction cost of Rs 117 crore. At present the average cost of each bed is around Rs 45 lakh. When we reviewed the hospital, which is designed by a private company, we found a lot of space was not utilized properly," Health Minister Satyendra Jain said while addressing a press conference here.
According to government officials, rooms for doctors and officials were too spacious, which don't require that much space.
"We revisited the facility and redesigned it. Now the same hospital will have a total of 600 beds, as we have managed to make space for additional 338 beds. The cost of additional beds is just Rs 45 crore at an average cost of Rs 13 lakh per bed.
"In other words, we are making another 338 bedded hospital in the same area with a cost of Rs 45 crore," Jain said.
Health Minister said that they have managed to reduce the capital cost of the hospital and efforts will be made to reduce running cost, saying that in last 60 years, the government has made provisions for 10,600 beds.
"Our priority is to give medical facility to the residents of the city. In next five years we will take that number to 40,000, which we also mentioned in our manifesto", Jain explained.
The Delhi Government will also review and redesign all the health facilities of Delhi. All the projects under planning stage will be reviewed on the basis of design efficiency, the minister said.
"Earlier there was nobody to check the efficiency of hospital but we will from now on keep a track on the efficiency of all the hospitals and will provide better services than private hospitals at a much cheaper cost. We have a large scale of work so we can do it economically," Jain said.
Government is also planning to extend the medical services in the city by starting two of their delayed super specialty projects - Rajiv Gandhi Super Specialty Hospital in Tahirpur, East Delhi, and Janakpuri Super Speciality Hospital in West Delhi.
"There are two hospitals which are constructed but are waiting to get started. Delhi government will soon review the project and will start services here in another six months," Jain added.
