BHUBANESWAR: In an effort to cope with the growing patient load, the AIIMS, Bhubaneswar will expand its outpatient department (OPD), strengthen IPD by adding more spacious accommodation and expedite recruitment of faculty members. Around 4,500 patients and more than an equal number of attendants from across the state and neighbouring West Bengal, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand visit the AIIMS OPD daily.
Executive director of AIIMS-BBS Dr Ashutosh Biswas said the OPD will be expanded to accommodate more patients and reduce their waiting time. Plans are also afoot to strengthen patient care with the addition of advanced facilities and recruitment of doctors.
“We will soon prepare a plan for the expansion of OPD. We will go for the opening of additional counters in the existing building initially and then shift to another location in the future. Several other steps will be taken for better management of the outpatient area to cut the waiting time,” he said.
The OPD expansion plan got an impetus during the recent visit of the joint secretary of the Ministry of Health Aradhana Patnaik. During her two-day visit, Patnaik had asked for the creation of more space for patients, who often struggle to get an OPD ticket and stand in queue for long hours.
The AIIMS has already launched the e-Hospital programme to improve patient care and administrative transparency. The Union joint secretary visited the state-of-the-art burn centre, central sterile services department, PET-CT, radiation oncology and the other departments and appreciated the high-end services.