Patiala: Dr Balbir Singh, the minister for health and family welfare and medical education and research, on Tuesday appealed to the parents of children born with congenital hearing and speech disabilities to immediately visit Rajindra Hospital for free-of-cost treatment.The minister made the appeal during his visit to the hospital in Patiala to meet the four-year-old beneficiary of the first successful cochlear implant surgery performed at the institution, along with her parents.
Dr Balbir Singh said specialist doctors were already available at Rajindra Hospital but the lack of advanced equipment posed challenges earlier. Under the leadership of chief minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, the govt fulfilled these requirements, he said.The minister added that no patient would be compelled to visit a private hospital or be referred to the PGI due to the non-availability of ventilators or other technical facilities.He said Rajindra Hospital had ENT specialists capable of treating congenital deaf-mute children, whose treatment usually cost Rs 10-12 lakh at private hospitals.The hospital earlier lacked essential equipment such as audiometry systems, para-medical support, speech therapists and other technical infrastructure, but these gaps were filled on priority, enabling the hospital to provide cochlear implant surgery and related services free of cost, said Dr Balbir Singh.Paramjeet Kaur and Jasvir Das, the parents of the beneficiary child, Guneet Kaur, from the Kularan village near Samana, expressed their gratitude to the Punjab govt, CM Mann, health minister Dr Balbir Singh and the doctors of the ENT department at Rajindra Hospital.They said due to the govt’s efforts, their daughter had overcome the lifelong disability of being deaf-mute, giving her a bright future.The minister said liver and kidney transplants, as well as heart, brain and spinal surgeries, were also being performed in govt hospitals. He further mentioned that Rajindra Hospital was upgrading all its operation theatres into modular OTs and a trauma centre was also being established. The minister described it as an important achievement of the Bhagwant Mann govt.Dr Balbir Singh said the primary goal of the Punjab govt was to ensure that all three crore citizens of the state received high-quality healthcare services, and that govt hospitals should be on par with, or better than, private hospitals.MSID:: 128976471 413 |
