ACs, TVs soon for Jalandhar civil hospital private rooms
If all goes well, soon patients in the Shaheed Babu Labh Singh civil hospital will get modern facilities such as air conditioners (ACs), televisions (TVs) and refrigerators in the newly constructed private rooms.
If all goes well, soon patients in the Shaheed Babu Labh Singh civil hospital will get modern facilities such as air conditioners (ACs), televisions (TVs) and refrigerators in the newly constructed private rooms.
Chairman of the Rogi Kalyan Samiti, Kamal Kishor Yadav, who is also deputy commissioner, approved the facilities in the recently held meeting.
The hospital’s officials told the chairman at the meeting that people were not coming to private rooms due to lack of ACs, TVs, and refrigerators. If these facilities were provided, then the number of patients in private rooms might increase, they said.
According to information, the Punjab Health Systems Corporation (PHSC) had last year spent Rs 14 lakh in renovating the rooms lying in dilapidated conditions for a decade.
In March, pinning their hopes on generating income from rent, the authorities at the hospital had opened the renovated private ward for the general public. The rent for each of the 18 rooms is Rs 500 per day.
As the hospital building also houses several other wards, besides laboratory, blood bank and offices, patients felt disturbed by the noise, crowd, and unhygienic conditions but
private rooms were maintained by the hospital with proper housekeeping and a peaceful environment.
The officials suggested by making available ACs, TVs and others items like private hospitals, the rent for a private could be raised to Rs 1,000 and it would definitely attract patients.
Officials told the DC that each private room has two beds. It is spacious and well-furnished.
“The money from rent will help pay salaries of outsourced employees, housekeeping staff etc,” said a hospital official, adding that “we get a very little additional budget from the government, so user charges are our prime sources of income.”
At present, the hospital has also assigned some of the nursing staff and other employees to this ward, but most of the visitors are not aware of the facility. The hospital is keeping 550 beds against the sanctioned only 470. All wards remain overcrowded.
Earlier, the patients, seeking private rooms, had to move to private hospitals or recuperate at home.