Salt Lake: A hospital run by the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation's health department that had been shut down for renovation five years ago is likely to reopen on August 14.
Matri Sadan hospital in Salt Lake's EE block had been "officially inaugurated" once before the 2015 Salt Lake municipal corporation elections and again in 2016 in the run-up to the Assembly elections.
But the hospital has in reality remained non-functional since it shut down for renovation in 2013. It had opened doors in 2000.
Pranay Kumar Ray, the mayoral council member in charge of health, said the hospital will now reopen with 25 beds.
"We will have 25 beds on the first floor which will enable us to admit patients from August. We will increase the number of beds in phases and we are planning to have a 100-bed facility by the end of this year," Ray said. All beds will have piped oxygen supply, he said.
The hospital will have a modern gynaecological on the first floor and a paediatric unit on the second floor, the councillor said. An ICU, a four-bed dialysis unit and a general medicine ward will come up on the fourth floor.
The civic body has bought an X-ray machine, an USG machine and a dialysis unit for the hospital.
"We already have most of the machines in place and if things go to plan all four floors will become operational by the end of this year," said a civic official.
The Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation has spent more than Rs 1.25 crore on renovating Matri Sadan. New nurses and doctors have also been recruited.
"The hospital used to offer affordable services. Residents will benefit if Matri Sadan is revived," said Kumar Shankar Sadhu, the secretary of the Salt Lake Residents' Welfare Association.
Matri Sadan used to be quite popular among residents of added areas of Salt Lake such as Duttabad, Sukantanagar and Kulipara with outdoor facilities at Rs 5 and a bed for Rs 40 a day.
The Bidhannagar Sub-Divisional Hospital in DD Block is the only government-run hospital in working condition in Salt Lake now but lacks specialised doctors and equipment.
Two more hospitals run by the corporation in Deshbandhu Nagar and Narayanpur have started functioning.
