Kolkata: The ESI Hospital Maniktala, one of the oldest and biggest in Bengal, opened a state-of-the-art ITU unit on Thursday, adding to its existing ITU bed count. The 19 new beds took the total ITU bed capacity to 52. Sources said that the shortage of ITU beds often prompted the hospital authority to refer patients to private hospitals that had tie-ups with the ESI. They said this expansion will benefit referral patients and reduce dependence on private tie-up hospitals, saving significant costs.“The new ITU beds became functional from Thursday. With all superspecialty services available here, the patient load is huge. These new beds will definitely benefit patients,” said Indraneel Das, medical planning officer-cum-superintendent of ESI Hospital Manicktala.While an MRI unit was already proposed for the 50-year-old hospital, which currently is a 500-bedded hospital, sources said that the work was put on hold until elections to the state assembly are over. ESI Hospitals across the state are funded by the central and the state govts in the proportion of 7:1. The daily average OPD footfall in the Maniktala unit in departments like nephrology and cardiology is around 600 each. tnn
