GMC’s super specialty block to have heart transplant facility

Panaji: The Goa Medical College’s super specialty block, which is set to be ready in the next few months, will have heart transplant facility among other super specialties. A cardiothoracic team from the hospital is ready to handle the new responsibility, dean Dr S M Bandekar said.

“The cardiothoracic team has confirmed its readiness to conduct heart transplants,” Bandekar said. Other policy decisions pertaining to the new facility such as whether it (heart transplant) should be offered free or whether patients should be charged nominal fees will be decided by the government later, he said.

The government has the option of bringing transplant under the Deen Dayal Swasthya Seva Yojana(DDSSY), the state’s universal mediclaim scheme, the dean said.

In February, the GMC started cardiology and cardiovascular and thoracic units and within a short time it has turned to be a huge success. The GMC offers some of the top facilities in the state.

Bandekar said, currently, most of the super specialties are available in the tertiary care hospital, while medical and surgical gastroenterology will be introduced once the super specialty block becomes operational.

A few days ago, health minister Vishwajit Rane had told TOI that he had cleared a file for appointing consultant gastroenterologist Dr Harish Peshwe. Rane had said that Peshwe had agreed to set up the gastroenterology department at the GMC.

The 500-bed super speciality block will house existing super specialities such as paediatric surgery, orthopaedic, neurosurgery, neurology, urology, plastic surgery, nephrology, cardiology and cardiovascular and thoracic surgery.

The government is looking at various options to make the super speciality functional and may opt for public-private partnership (PPP) mode to run it. Two consultants have already been shortlisted for suggesting the way forward in terms of commissioning the super speciality block in collaboration with a private partner.