Jamshedpur: To provide better treatment to kidney patients, the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College and Hospital (MGMMCH) is setting up a modern govt-run 10-bed dialysis centre at a cost of Rs 2.31 crore. The centre is expected to become operational within the next three months, officials said.Speaking to TOI on Tuesday, hospital superintendent Dr Balram Jha said, “An agency, which has been awarded the tender, has to complete the work in three months. Patients covered under the Ayushman Bharat scheme would receive free dialysis service. The charges for patients, who are not covered under the scheme, are yet to be finalised.”The facility will have 10 dialysis beds, dialysis chairs, multi-parameter monitors, defibrillators, suction machines, weighing scales, refrigerators, and other essential medical equipment. An RO water treatment plant, estimated to cost around Rs 55 lakh, will also be installed, he added.At present, a nine-bed dialysis unit operates on the hospital premises under the public-private partnership (PPP) model. It conducts around 15 to 18 dialysis sessions daily. Beneficiaries of the Ayushman Bharat scheme receive treatment free of cost while those without a card are charged Rs 1,050 per dialysis session. It would be stopped after the fully govt centre becomes operational as the hospital does not have enough space for both, Dr Jha said.Adityapur-based resident Prakash, who undergoes dialysis twice a week, said, “Though treatment at MGMMCH was cheaper than at several other places, I still have to pay over Rs 2,000 as total weekly expense. I hope the new dialysis centre will ease the financial burden on patients requiring regular treatment and strengthen kidney care facilities at the govt hospital.”A resident of Sidhgora, Raja Singh, said, “I have to undergo dialysis thrice a week. I do not have to pay as I have an Ayushman card. However, others have to pay Rs 1,050 per session.”Sources in the hospital said patients suffering from kidney failure and chronic kidney disease, including those whose kidneys have been damaged due to diabetes or uncontrolled blood pressure, would benefit. The new state-of-the-art facility would reduce patients’ dependence on private hospitals and dialysis centres.“Patients requiring dialysis two or three times a week often face a heavy financial burden, particularly those from poor and middle-class families. With the new modern centre, patients from all three districts of Kolhan will be able to access treatment at affordable rates or free of cost under applicable govt schemes,” he added.
