The Neotia Bhagirathi Woman and Child Care Centre in New Town inaugurated a new paediatric multispeciality wing on Thursday, thereby enhancing the hospital’s capacity to 220 beds.

Built as an expansion of the existing facility, the new ₹85-crore facility integrates advanced superspecialities like cardiology, nephrology, neurology, gastroenterology, surgery, urology, and orthopaedics.

“We realised that while we were providing care to mothers and children, many families faced other challenges when their child grew up. They needed to consult multiple specialists for chronic conditions and diseases, and these were specialists in different parts of the country,” said Parthiv Neotia, joint managing director, Ambuja Neotia Group, which runs the hospital.

“To support the scale and the need for a comprehensive ecosystem, we have expanded our bed facility to 220 beds, ensuring that no child is denied timely and specialised attention,” said Neotia.

He said that the paediatric gastroenterology department will offer focused care and management of digestive and nutritional disorders, and that the paediatric neurology department will be supported by an advanced child development centre and physiotherapy unit to ensure early diagnosis, therapeutic support, and long-term development and care for neurodevelopmental challenges.

Paediatric cardiology with a cath lab has been designed specifically for children to enable advanced cardiology intervention for congenital and acquired heart diseases. The hospital has given meticulous attention to the needs of young patients with a dialysis centre in paediatric nephrology.

“Children are being taken care of in other hospitals also, but we thought that to have a centre dedicated to children would be probably appropriate because they have special needs and requirements, and special training for the staff and doctors too. If they are all under one roof, they can consult each other and improve the quality of the outcome,” said Harshavardhan Neotia, chairman, Ambuja Neotia Group.

The services are complemented by child-friendly interiors, sensory aware environments and dedicated age-specific zones designed for newborns, infants, children and adolescents, the hospital said in a release.

Neotia Bhagirathi Woman and Child Care Centre began its journey on Park Street 23 years ago. The hospital in New Town came up in 2018.

New Town is fast emerging as Calcutta’s new health hub, riding the same advantages that EM Bypass had about two decades ago. The availability of encroachment and encumbrance-free, regular-shaped land and the promise of easy connectivity are driving healthcare investments to New Town, Metro had reported early this year.

This newspaper reported in March that state government sources said more than 60 acres have been allotted for healthcare facilities-both private and government- across the township over the past few years.

“The factor of space availability is critical, as these facilities can only be established in areas where land is present. This land was acquired through an auction and was specifically for healthcare. Other plots are currently being auctioned in New Town, which are also intended for healthcare,” the group chairman told Metro on Thursday.