Service to Humanity"
by Leela Menon
Kochi, April 30: The Amritanandamayi Institute of Medical Sciences
(AIMS), to be inaugurated by Prime Minister A B Vajpayee on May
17, is set to transform the health scene of Kochi - not only in
providing state-of-the-art medical care facilities but also in providing
free medical care to indigent patients.
The AIMS is indeed a unique mixture of compassion and skill, superior
infrastructure and the ultimate in technology - in fact the last
word in quality medical care which can match or excel the West,
according to AIMS director Dr Prem Nair.
When completed, the 800-bed tertiary hospital will be a referral
hospital, offering sophisticated medical care, medi-cal research
and education, outstanding diagnostic evaluations and expert surgical
interventions in a non-profit charitable setting.
Located in 23 acres off the Bypass in Edapally, in Kochi, the 600,000-square-foot
hospital has six towers surrounding a central atrium, three towers
of which are devoted to the penniless.
Two towers will cater to the fussy elite demanding exclusive attention.
"We want to take care of all sections of the population,"
points out Dr Nair.
Planned in phases, the first phase of the hospital will have 150
beds and 40 ICUs. There will be a heart institute, a lung centre,
a 'centre for vascular diseases, a digestive diseases institute,
a kidney centre, an imaging centre and a clinical laboratory and
a blood bank in the first phase.
In the second phase, there will be 140 ICUs, a neuroscience institute,
a transplantation centre, and a prenatal centre. An oncology unit
will be set up after clearance is obtained from the Bhabha Atomic
Research Centre.
The Heart Centre will have an acute myocardial infarction (AMI)
'heart attack' programme, with a 24-hour telephone hotline and rapid
response emergency and intensive care mobile service units providing
life-saving assistance to those in critical need.
A cardiac catheterisation unit, balloon angioplasty, cardiac electrophysiology
lab, digital high-resolution ultrasound equipment with stress echo
capability and treadmill testing, monitoring services, a pacemaker
clinic and rotablator procedures are also available here.
Says Dr Nair: "We aim to give total heart care, both preventive
and diagnostic. There will be paediatric cardiology, neonatal cardiology
and adult cardiology services as well a cardiac rehabilitation scheme."
Specialists to attend to the different branches of this super-specialty
hospital will come from all over the world to ensure a strong and
competent medical and technical supporting staff, apart from a strong
voluntary team.
The hospital infrastructure will include staff quarters, patient
lounges for relatives, a nursing college, a pharmacy college and
post-graduate training programme in medical, surgical and other
specialties.
The Imaging Centre will have the latest equipment, a state-of-the
art filmless radiology unit, retrievable anywhere in the hospital
with a picture archival communication system (PACS). The installed
network allows radiological physicians and technicians to move images
from one modality to another and to view throughout the hospital.
Teleradlology facilities through ISDN and Internet is another first
for India, according to Nair. These allow Instant consultations
on complex problems with major centres in the US and in Europe.
All the latest in diagnostic imaging such as spiral CT scans have
already been installed. A site is being readied for magnetic resonance
imaging, nuclear medicine with gamma cameras and a wide variety
of isotope scanning capabilities.
A sterilisation department provides automated washers, ultrasonic
cleaners, gas sterilizers and microprocessor-controlled steam sterilizers
which connect directly to the operating rooms.
In gastroenterology, there will be a complete digestive diseases
programme, medical enterology and a centre for swallowing disorders.
Therapeutic endoscopy with lasers balloons, stents and lithotripsy
for gallstone diseases will also be made available.
A liver transplant programme is also on the cards.
A centralised electrical substation is being set up for stabilising
power and ensure uninterrupted power supply through a field generator
back-up. A central gas plant will dispense oxygen and nitrous and
compressed air.
A centralised laundry will provide automatic washing, drying and
pressing facilities for patients and staff. There will be a centralised
effluent treatment plant for providing purified water, special diesel
incinerator for disposal of hospital waste and centralised boilers
for the kitchen.
A reverse osmosis plant will give high-quality, bacteria-free water
for labs, dialysis and operation theaters.
"We have planned and integrated it into the hospital infrastructure,"
Nair said. As benefits a spiritually motivated institution, volunteers
will give free service to the hospital to defray cost of taking
care of patients.
Volunteers can work for two days a week, two months or more, to
serve as receptionists, or assist in various therapies like IV therapy
or paediatrics or physiotherapy. An exercise in trashing the ego.
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