SKIMS Bemina triples ortho bed capacity

With facilities at Bone and Joint Hospital suspended due to the recent blaze, the SKIMS Medical College Hospital Bemina has jumped in to address the crisis, tripling its bed capacity for Orthopedic patients.

General Surgery Ward and part of Medicine Ward at SKIMS MC have been converted into extensions of Orthopedic Ward, Principal of the Medical College, Dr Irfan Robbani said. He said that the wards have added more than 60 beds to the 30 bedded Ortho Ward, helping in accommodating patients that are getting diverted to the hospital after Bone and Joint Hospital suffered a major fire in one of its buildings.

“In tertiary care, only SKIMS Bemina and Bone and Joint Hospital have a department of Orthopedics in Kashmir,” he said, adding that the capacity could be further increased if there was a need in the coming few days.

In the past two days, Dr Rabbani said, 28 major and minor Ortho surgeries were carried out at the Medical College. “The patient care would be hit because we have a 200 bedded Ortho Hospital unavailable at the moment. By doing our bit, we want to help this unprecedented situation,” he said. The Principal said the entire staff of the hospital has been very proactive in expanding the ambit of care. “Patient care is paramount,” he said.

Dr Naseer Ahmed Mir, Professor and Head Department of Orthopedics at SKIMS MC Hospital said 92 Ortho patients were admitted at the hospital currently. “Many of these patients would usually go to B&J Hospital but had nowhere to go after the fire incidents,” he said.

Dr Mir said the patients for B&J Hospital were accommodated the very evening of the incident and the patient flow has continued since then. “Last night, we carried out surgeries the entire night. We are doing ortho surgeries round the clock,” he said. The OPD hours have also been extended to help the patients seek consultation, Dr Mir said.

While expressing confidence about the availability of the staff, including resident staff, Dr Mir said, “Since the volume of surgeries has increased manifold, we are a little short of anesthesia staff.”

B&J Hospital, Kashmir’s largest tertiary care Orthopedics and Trauma Hospital has been partly closed down since Friday night when a major blaze gutted a building at the Institute. OPD services and some other facilities such as plaster and X-Ray have been resumed at this hospital, as per its administration. Greater Kashmir