GOALPARA, Jan 4 - The 200-bed Goalpara Civil Hospital won the Central Government�s coveted Kayakalp Award recently pushing behind the civil hospitals of Golaghat, Nalbari and Nagaon to lower spots.
The award which was launched under the Swachh Bharat campaign, carries a cash prize of Rs 50 lakh and is given to the best hospital in the State for demonstrating high level of hygiene, cleanliness and infection control practices. The award also aims at promoting a culture of cleanliness and infection control, by adhering to the principle of �to do no harm� by all the health care facilities in the country.
Talking to this correspondent, an elated Deputy Commissioner JVN Subramanyam said that this is a proud and treasured moment for him personally and indeed for everyone in the district to become a recipient of this prestigious award with a score of 79 picked up from 58 various criteria through self-assessment, followed by peer assessment and then finally the external assessment conducted by a joint team involving the UNICEF. He also said that this achievement is the result of great team effort, in particular of all the staff members of the hospital and also of the various departments which worked together as a well-organised unit. He also thanked all of them including the various line departments for this fruitful ending.
Subramanyam also said that the motivation and the challenge for further improving the health care facilities came during the visit of the Additional Chief Secretary, MGVK Bhanu, to Goalpara Civil Hospital in May, 2015.
He also added that the bio-medical waste unit, which was lying inoperational for the last almost two years has become fully operational, with private nursing homes using the facilities on Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode and a system of waste segregation for each ward of the hospital has been installed. Moreover, a new laundry unit has also been incorporated with colour coding, to provide clean and fresh linen to patients, besides installing a plasma screen for EDL, a digitized registration and pharmacy computerization, the Deputy Commissioner further added.
Subramanyam mentioned that now the key area of focus of the hospital is on health care service delivery, as it caters to patients from five districts, including Barpeta and the State of Meghalaya and he wants to transform it into the GMCH of lower Assam.
On a visit to the Goalpara Civil Hospital, this correspondent found the campus fresh, sporting an immaculate look, with a well-organised system in place for digital registration of patients, mesh nets for windows of wards and cabins, a herbal garden, rain water harvesting tanks, demarcation of patients waiting areas, colour-coded direction signs, installation of duty roster boards, colour-coded direction signs, improvement of all paying cabins, Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) display in each wards, a vermi-compost unit for solid waste management of the hospital and a linen management unit.
Meanwhile, an enthusiastic hospital superintendent, Dr Nilmadhab Das, said that it is a great honour for all staff members to have won the prestigious award. He also praised the great team efforts of all the staff members, who fulfilled all the tasks assigned to them. He also informed that caesarian operations are performed on a 24 x 7 basis and the hospital authorities are trying to reduce the number of referrals.
The executive officer of the Goalpara Municipality Board, Dhiman Choudhury said that the GMB is helping the hospital authorities keep the campus neat and clean and is also placing some garbage bins at specific locations. Meanwhile, most of the people and patients, whom this correspondent interacted with, expressed their happiness over the development of the health care facilities and praised the efforts of the hospital staff, the Deputy Commissioner and others for their roles.
