Children’s Hospital Bemina now fully functional

SRINAGAR — After missing several deadlines, the much-awaited 500-bed Children’s Hospital Bemina, Srinagar has been made functional from Monday, officials said.

A Health official told the news agency KNO that all machinery and other equipment were already shifted to the hospital last week and today, it was made functional. He said that machinery and all equipment have been already installed at the hospital so that the patients won’t suffer at any cost.

He said that from 10:00 AM on Monday, the OPD and admissions at GB Panth were closed and at the same time, the admission of patients started at the 500-bedded paediatric hospital in Bemina.

The official added that while taking no risk, all patients who are severe and in ICU and on oxygen were not shifted from GB Pant and they will be discharged from there while the rest of the less sick patients have been shifted to the new paediatric hospital.

He added that 240 beds were available at GB Panth and around 450-475 patients on daily basis were remaining admitted and there was no other option other than keeping two or three patients on a bed. “Now, 500 beds are available here and patients will get all facilities.”

Asked about infrastructure set up there, he said that whatever was required has been fulfilled and if anything more will be required, it will be done.

Notably, just a few days back, Health and Medical Education Department had given a nod to the shifting of GB Panth Hospital to the 500-bedded paediatric hospital in Bemina.

It is pertinent to mention here that the work on the hospital was initially started in 2013 but the then chief minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed, in October 2015, gave it an extension and laid the foundation stone for a 500-bedded Mother-Child Hospital.

In 2019, the government accorded sanction to the conversion of the 200-bedded maternity hospital and the 300-bedded paediatric hospital at Bemina, Srinagar into a full-fledged 500-bedded children’s hospital.

After missing several deadlines, the 500-bedded hospital was completed and OPD services started functioning in the hospital in October last year. The hospital is now fully functional as all the paediatric patients are admitted in the hospital instead of GB Panth Hospital Sonwar.