Patna: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday virtually inaugurated from Delhi three new healthcare units at All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS)-Patna, besides upgrading its existing eight-bed neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) to 24 beds with additional facilities, making it the largest one in the state. The four projects together are worth around Rs 39 crore.
It was part of the multiple transformative healthcare project worth Rs 12,850 crore that the PM launched at All India Institute of Ayurveda (AIIA), Delhi, coinciding with Dhanvantari Jayanti and ninth Ayurveda Day. On the occasion, the PM also launched Ayushman Bharat PM Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) that covers all senior citizens aged 70 years and above, irrespective of their income.
Apart from the 24-bed NICU centre at AIIMS Patna that the PM inaugurated, three other units included cancer treatment unit, kidney transplant unit and introduction of drone services to enhance service delivery to make healthcare more accessible.
AIIMS-Patna executive director Dr Gopal Krishna Pal told reporters that the setting up of the cancer unit involved an expenditure of over Rs 27 crore, that of NICU over Rs 4 crore, kidney transplant unit over Rs 3 crore and the drone services around Rs 3 crore.
The NICU has a wide range of facilities to give health care to newborn babies and has 20 ventilators and phototherapy equipment, among several others. It has highly trained staff and advanced life support system. Normally, the newborn babies are brought for healthcare within 24 hours of birth.