The under-construction ICU building at Capital Hospital in Bhubaneswar. Picture by Sanjib Mukherjee

Bhubaneswar, Sept. 27: The work on the expansion of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Capital Hospital is progressing at a snail’s pace.

Though the proposal to increase the number of beds in the ICU from five to 16 was made in 2009, the construction for expansion of the building began only last year.

Sources in the hospital said the authorities were expecting the construction to be completed by the end of this month, but 25 per cent of the work was left. The expansion is being undertaken at an estimated cost of Rs 89 lakh.

Multiple government agencies such as roads and buildings, general electricity department, and the Public Health Engineering Organisation have been entrusted with the job of expansion. But lack of coordination between these agencies has resulted in delay in the execution of the project.

“There was a meeting of hospital authorities and the government agencies last week to expedite the process. All of the agencies have agreed to lend their full cooperation,” said a senior official of the hospital. The hospital, set up in 1954, is a major government-run hospital in the state capital with 547 beds.

The need of an expanded ICU arises as nearly 2,000 patients visit the hospital not only from the city but also from Puri, Khurda and Nayagarh districts. The five beds in the ICU are not enough.

“Being a major government hospital in the city, the ICU should be expanded as soon as possible. The money charged by some private hospitals for ICU facility in the city is beyond the reach of middle-class people,” said Narottama Sahu, the relative of a patient.

However, chief medical officer of the hospital Sudarshan Dash said the authorities were trying their best to complete the expansion at the earliest. “We had set September 30 as the deadline for completion of the work. We are hopeful that the construction will be complete before Durga Puja,” said Dash.

Earlier, the hospital authorities had submitted a proposal for addition of 100 beds. The expansion work, at a cost of Rs 1 crore, is awaiting the approval of the state health department. The hospital, built on an area of 20 acres, has 24 departments. With the addition of a special cardiac unit last year, more patients have been coming to the hospital.