2,600 more beds in Delhi govt hospitals by early next year

New Delhi: By March next year, hospitals run by Delhi government will have 2,609 more beds. By this November alone, the government plans to add 1,368 beds. In reply to a question by BJP’s Vishwas Nagar legislator Om Prakash Sharma, the health department informed the assembly that work in this regard was on in full swing. The House was told that 98% and 92% of work was completed at Ambedkar Nagar and Burari hospitals, respectively.

The creation of 1,241 beds at Indira Gandhi Hospital, Dwarka, however, is likely to take seven more months. The addition of beds in all these hospitals is running behind schedule. To another query, the health department told the House that there are 440 ventilators in all Delhi government hospitals put together. Of these, 44 are not functional. Delhi government runs 37 hospitals across the capital.

In the budget for Financial Year 2019, the state government had announced its commitment to improve health care facilities in the capital. It had claimed that the number of beds in its hospitals would be doubled to 20,000. According to a 2014-15 report of the director general of health services, there are 10,959 sanctioned beds in Delhi government hospitals.

However, only Lok Nayak Hospital has an MRI facility.