New Delhi [India], September 28 : Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare JP Nadda reviewed the progress of Lady Hardinge Medical College (LHMC) and its associated hospitals, Sucheta Kriplani Hospital (SSKH) and Kalawati Saran Children’s Hospital (KSCH), with a focus on strengthening healthcare infrastructure, specialised clinical services, medical education, research and patient care.
During the review meeting, the Minister was apprised of the ongoing augmentation of Kalawati Saran Children’s Hospital. The project envisages increasing the hospital’s total bed capacity from 394 to 894 beds, ICU capacity from 40 to 200 beds and the number of Operation Theatres from 4 to 12. Construction work on the KSCH campus is underway and is aimed at strengthening tertiary and super-speciality paediatric care, while also expanding capacity for undergraduate, postgraduate and super-speciality medical education and training.
Addressing the review meeting, Nadda emphasised that the ongoing and upcoming projects at LHMC and its associated hospitals must be planned with a patient-centric and future-oriented approach, keeping evolving medical requirements at the core. He stressed that planning and design should draw upon the expertise and best practices of leading institutions in the relevant fields, while ensuring high quality of construction and strict monitoring of project timelines. He called for timely escalation of issues requiring approvals and clearances to the Ministry and emphasised that infrastructure expansion and recruitment of nurses, doctors and other healthcare professionals must progress concurrently.
Looking ahead, he called for a comprehensive master plan with a long-term institutional vision, combining immediate priorities with phased development and a forward-looking perspective for the coming decades. He also encouraged exploring private-sector expertise and partnerships, wherever appropriate, in planning and implementing major projects, while ensuring that quality, efficiency and patient care remain central to all such initiatives.
As part of the visit, the Union Health Minister visited the state-of-the-art Skill Lab at Lady Hardinge Medical College, a comprehensive, multidisciplinary, simulation-based training facility that provides hands-on, competency-based learning in a safe, controlled environment. The facility has dedicated simulation areas for ICU, surgical skills, simulated OT, Obstetrics OT, NICU, trauma, ENT and ophthalmology, along with briefing and debriefing areas and task trainers for procedural skills.
The Skill Lab provides an integrated platform for undergraduate and postgraduate training, procedural skills development, faculty development, multidisciplinary team training and competency-based assessment. Simulation-based learning, deliberate practice and structured feedback at the facility support the development of clinical and surgical proficiency, decision-making, teamwork, communication and crisis-resource management, while contributing to enhanced patient safety.
The Minister also visited the recently functional Augmented Level III-B Neonatal Care Centre at Kalawati Saran Children’s Hospital and reviewed the advanced facilities available for newborn care.
The Department of Neonatology has 80 intensive care beds and caters to more than 10,000 deliveries and 2,500 NICU admissions annually, with overall survival exceeding 93 per cent. The neonatal care facility provides advanced services including high-frequency oscillatory ventilation (HFOV), inhaled nitric oxide therapy, therapeutic hypothermia, advanced monitoring and comprehensive respiratory support.
The recently functional NICU-B comprises 7 NICU beds, 8 HDU beds, 15 Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) beds and 12 mothers’ cots, with emphasis on family-integrated care, kangaroo mother care and breastfeeding support.
The review and visit underscored the continued efforts of LHMC and its associated hospitals to strengthen advanced patient care, specialised paediatric and neonatal services, medical education, simulation-based training and research, alongside the ongoing expansion and modernisation of healthcare infrastructure.
Sunil Kumar Barnwal, CEO, National Health Authority (NHA); Dr LG Krishna, DGHS; GS Chitra, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare; Dr Himani Ahluwalia, Director, Lady Hardinge Medical College (LHMC); Dr Arvind Kumar, Medical Superintendent, LHMC; Dr Vikram Dutta, Medical Superintendent, LHMC and Dr Sujata Gautam, Principal, LHMC were present at the review meeting.