Naik to inaugurate dialysis facility in Thane tomorrow

Thane, Jan 25 (UNI) Thane Guardian Minister Ganesh Naik will inaugurate a dialysis facility in the civil hospital here tomorrow.

With this, the patients needing the dialysis can avail the facility and treatment at affordable price. The government-run civil hospital will become the only hospital in Maharashtra to offer such facility to the masses in the district and its surrounding areas.

The need for the dialysis machine was a long felt one as the patients who suffered from renal failure had go to Mumbai for dialysis.

Mr Naik had promised to make the dialysis machine operational by January 26. He had made a commitment in this regard at a function of the hospital some five months back.

Besides Mr Naik, the State Health Minister Dr Vimal Mundada also went one step ahead and saw to it that the staff needed to operate the machine was made available under contract under the NRHM Scheme.

The Thane MLA and Shiv Sena district chief Eknath Shinde pursued the matter to realise the common man's programme and saw to it that the facility becomes operational on the eve of the birth anniversary of the Sena district chief late Dharmaveer Anand Dighe, which falls on January 27. He was killed in a road accident some eight years ago.

According to the Thane district Civil Surgeon Dr Pramod Chapalgaonkar, who was instrumental in getting the project to the otherwise neglected hospital, the patients can get the facility at a nominal cost of Rs 400 instead of Rs 2,000 being paid in the private hospitals.

Along with this, a laparoscopic facility will also be inaugurated tomorrow in the premises of the hospital.

Mr Naik has donated the entire amount of Rs 22 lakh for both the facilities.

According to Mr Chapalgaonkar, as many as four dialysis can be conducted in the hospital every day, besides the emergency ones.

He said the hospital has a capacity of 336 beds, while the number of outpatients treated was 600 daily and there were as many as 60 to 70 admissions daily. He said about 5-10 operations are being performed in the hospital daily.

He said besides the existing facilities, a modern multi-storied structure will come up in the premises built at a cost of Rs 57 lakh, part of which has been donated by the former MLA late M D Joshi. It will also house the medical stores and two wards including one for psychiatric patients. This will be ready in the next six months, he added.

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