Nearly 1,500 Staff, Including 300 Docs To Be Recruited
KGMU vice-chancellor Dr Sonia Nityanand reassumed office on Monday.
Lucknow: Construction of the second trauma centre building at King George’s Medical University (KGMU) is progressing and the Rs 296-crore project is expected to be completed by Oct next year, vice-chancellor Dr Sonia Nityanand said after reassuming office on Monday.Sharing details at a news conference, Dr Nityanand said the new facility would add 500 beds to the existing trauma centre, taking its total capacity to around 900 beds. Nearly 1,500 staff members, including 250-300 doctors, are expected to be recruited to run the expanded facility.Currently, the trauma centre has around 400 beds and handles about 450-500 patients daily. The expansion is aimed at easing the growing pressure on emergency services and improving patient care. The seven-storey building, along with a two-level basement, is coming up on the site of the old nursing hostel, which is being demolished after being declared unsafe.Dr Nityanand said the project was on schedule and would significantly strengthen emergency and specialised care services at the university.The new building will have separate wings for surgical and medical care to improve the management of emergency cases. According to the detailed project report, the ground floor will house an 80-bed unit and a radiodiagnostic centre. The first floor will have 60 beds and 12 operation theatres. The third floor will accommodate 80 trauma surgery beds, while the fourth floor will have 60 orthopaedic beds.The fifth floor will house a 40-bed intensive care unit and a 20-bed high-dependency unit. The sixth floor will be dedicated to super-speciality departments, including plastic surgery, vascular surgery, ENT and ophthalmology. Administrative offices, seminar halls and lounges will be located on the seventh floor.The two basement levels will be used for parking, diagnostic laboratories and support services. The expanded trauma centre will also provide round-the-clock MRI, X-ray, ultrasound and pathology services to speed up diagnosis and reduce waiting time. The project includes accommodation for attendants and a dedicated meal-preparation floor.As part of KGMU’s diagnostic expansion, a new high-end CT scanner has already been installed near the trauma centre. The university expects the machine to reduce diagnostic turnaround time and patient waiting time.KGMU is also strengthening its 24-hour diagnostic infrastructure through additional CT imaging, automated laboratory services, radiology facilities and blood-collection services to cater to the increasing patient load. The university’s ongoing digital-transformation programme will support patient management through digital navigation, appointment and queue management, investigation scheduling, electronic patient records and pre-procedure instructions.With additional beds, operation theatres, critical-care facilities, super-speciality services and round-the-clock diagnostics, the second trauma centre building is expected to substantially expand KGMU’s emergency and specialised healthcare capacity.AI to guide patients, streamline careA comprehensive AI-powered digital patient management system is being planned to help patients navigate the hospital, identify the right department and manage appointments, investigations and surgeries.Vice-Chancellor Soniya Nityanand said digital transformation of clinical management would be a priority. Under the proposed system, patients would be able to describe their symptoms through a chatbot that would guide them to the appropriate specialty or department. The system would also provide information on OPD availability, reporting times and hospital navigation. It could eventually include appointment scheduling, queue management, investigation bookings, surgery scheduling and pre-surgical instructions.Nityanand said the hospital had already initiated digital projects and AI integration would follow once the required digital infrastructure and data systems were in place.The hospital is also exploring telemedicine and other AI-based services to expand specialist care through digital platforms.The proposed system aims to reduce patient confusion and unnecessary movement between departments while improving queue management and overall patient experience.
