Matri Sadan, the municipality-run hospital in EE Block, was formally reopened on January 15 after an expansion but it is not ready to offer any of the much-vaunted new facilities to the public yet. Once the hospital, that so long functioned as a 10-bed childbirth facility, actually reopens it is supposed to be a 60-bed multi-speciality hospital.

“The hospital is closed for patients now. We have not received any medical equipment and even the doctors are not coming now. There is a few months’ work still left to be completed,” said a hospital source. The municipality, it is being alleged, inaugurated the new facilities at the hospital in a hurry to take credit before the upcoming civic polls.
The inauguration took place with much fanfare in the parking space of the hospital and was attended by local MLA Sujit Bose, all chairman-in-council members except Sabyasachi Dutta, several councillors and sub-divisional officer Pawan Kadyan. 

The guests did not enter the hospital for a customary tour of the premises after the inauguration ceremony. There would have been little to see if they did. The wards lie bare except for a few stray beds. 

“There are several nursing homes in Salt Lake but they are very expensive. Once fully functional, residents will be able to avail top-notch medical facilities here for a fraction of what the private hospitals charge,” said civic chief Krishna Chakraborty at the inauguration.

Four new specialised departments were announced open. The ground floor will house an outdoor clinic, waiting room and canteen. The gynaecological ward on the first floor would be modernised and a paediatric unit will be built on the second floor. The general medicine ward would be on the third floor while the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and a four-bed dialysis unit would find place on the fourth floor.

A total of Rs 55 lakh has been spent to procure medical equipment and new beds. Walls of the small rooms in the hospital have been pulled down to make big air-conditioned wards and a piped line will send oxygen to each bed. A new wide-body lift will be constructed for easier movement of patients on stretchers too.

The total cost for the facelift has been pegged at Rs 1.25 crore while plans are underfoot for another phase of expansion. 

 

Would the additional facilities at Matri Sadan help you?

Write to saltlake@abpmail.com or The Telegraph Salt Lake, 6, Prafulla Sarkar Street, Calcutta 700001