Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal inaugurates Delhi government's second plasma bank at the Lok Nayak Hospital in New Delhi on Tuesday. (Express photo: Praveen Khanna)With plans afoot for a new block having 1,500 beds and state-of-the-art indoor facilities for patients, the Delhi government-run Lok Nayak hospital will soon be Delhi’s biggest medical facility and one of the largest in the country.
On Friday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal laid the foundation stone for construction of the 25-storey block. “With the new state-of-the-art block having 25 floors, fully air-conditioned with modular OTs and other facilities, the bed strength of the hospital will grow to 3,500. An additional block coming up will have 300 more beds. So, with a total of 3,800 beds, the hospital will be one of the biggest facilities in the country,” he said.
Located in Central Delhi, Lok Nayak, now a Covid-only facility, has 2,000 beds. The new block will be completed by April 2023. Now, AIIMS, with a capacity of around 2,500 beds, is the largest medical facility in a government setup.
Calling it a “world-class facility”, Kejriwal said the new 1,500-bed block will be built at a cost of Rs 450 crore, with a per bed cost of Rs 30 lakh. “This is lesser than similar projects done by the Centre or any state government, where the average cost turns out to be Rs 1.25 crore to Rs 1.5 crore per bed. We will save money and use it for the public,” he said.
The new block will have a medical section, maternity ward, advanced paediatric department, advanced lab facility and an advanced molecular lab. “Today marks the beginning of a healthcare revolution in the city… With 25 floors and best healthcare available under one roof, this will be an inspiration to all,” said Health Minister Satyendar Jain.
Expanding on the facilities, Lok Nayak medical director Dr Suresh Kumar said, “There will be two ICUs each for neonatal, paediatric, emergency and gynecology. We will be setting up a research lab in the building and a separate radiological and investigation lab. It will also have a hi-tech advanced teaching room with audio-video facility for our MD and MS students. One floor of the building will house offices and rest will have indoor wards.”
Established in 1936, the hospital started off with 350 beds.