After 13 years, new multispecialty building at Sassoon general hospital to be fully operational by February end

A multispeciality building at Pune’s Sassoon General Hospital that has been under construction for a decade now will be completed by the end of February. The 11-storey building, designed with mineral wall panels brought all the way from Italy, however, was utilized when the city faced a spike in Covid-19 cases last year.

The government-run specially designed hospitals will have 11 major operation theatre complexes and will be equipped with an additional 15-kl liquid oxygen tank, informed aid S Chokalingam, settlement commissioner also currently the administrator of the facility, to Indian Express.

A feeder supply facility at the vicinity of the hospital will cater to its power demands so that a local power cut-off does not affect the hospital services. The hospital will have its own blood bank and sever super specialities like orthopaedics, paediatrics, ophthalmology etc. A facility has been specially designated for post-operative care of patients in the multispeciality building.

The mineral wall panels inside the OTs will be dirt-resistant and easier to clean, improving the hygiene of the facility. The modular OTs will have specially designed walls, high-quality panels with fewer grooves and holes. The panels with its antibacterial properties will help in decreasing infection and healing faster.

Chokalingam further shared that the cost of building the hospital is approximately Rs 100 crores. technical experts from College of Engineering Pune have been guiding them for designing the facility.

Sassoon General Hospital’s multispeciality building was conceptualised way back in 2008 but lack of adequate funds resulted in the delay of the construction work. When the Covid cases increased in Pune, the district administration instructed to re-energise the facility and add more beds to cater to the rising demand for hospitalisation.

Even though the hospital faced several challenges like overconsumption of oxygen, need for giving away more floors to Covid patients and then shifting them to other buildings in the campus, Chokalingam is hopeful that the construction will be completed by February end.

The hospital witnessed fewer than 60 positive cases as in last week, all getting treatment at its multispeciality building. Sassoon General Hospital has so far treated, 5,321 Covid positive patients. A total of 3,062 have recovered and been discharged, while 1,874 deaths were registered at the hospital.