Aurangabad: District civil hospital inaugurates gynaec indoor-patient services

AURANGABAD: In a much-awaited development, the 200-bed strong district civil hospital, run by the public health department at Chikalthana, has opened its indoor gynaecology and obstetrics services, a step which is significant in reducing the delivery load on the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH).

The district civil hospital’s building had been ready for the last three years but after many bureaucratic and political hurdles, the hospital started its outpatient services on June 25. To date, the hospital has catered to 40,702 OPD patients.

The hospital opened its inpatient services on October 11 and has catered to 273 patients so far. However, the indoor maternity services at the hospital had been awaited for a long time.

On Tuesday, deputy director of health services Swapnil Lale, district civil surgeon Sundar Kulkarni, gynecologist Sunila Lale and homemaker Manda Kulkarni inaugurated the 40-bed strong maternity ward at the hospital in the presence of social worker Mansukhlal Zambad.

There are four gynaecology, five paediatric and four anaesthesiology specialists deployed at the hospital to treat patients.

“With six labour tables and two operation theatres, the hospital is capable of carrying out a maximum of six deliveries and two caesareans at a time. We could not start the services earlier because we had to wait for the required drugs. However, that issue has now been addressed,” said Sundar Kulkarni. He added that the facility will be expanded over time.

The hospital has a 10-bed strong neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), which will be opened in case there is a need for it’s services. “We can offer ante-natal and post-natal care at the hospital right now,” he said.

Talking about the availability of nurses, Kulkarni said that the hospital has all 94 positions of nurses filled. As far as class IV staff are concerned, the hospital will observe its requirements and then hire staff on a contractual basis in proportion to the number of beds.

The GMCH carries out around 18,000 deliveries and 2,000 Caesareans annually with its limited infrastructure. The maternity services at the district civil hospital will help in reducing the patient count at the GMCH.

Kulkarni said that with the availability of specialists, the hospital has begun admitting and treating patients, irrespective of the specialization.