Mangaluru: A state-of-the-art critical care and trauma care unit is being established at Wenlock District Hospital in Mangaluru and is expected to be opened for public use within the next two to three months.
The new facility is being developed to provide immediate and comprehensive treatment to patients arriving with life-threatening conditions, including accident victims and those requiring intensive medical care. The dedicated unit will bring several critical care services under one roof, addressing a long-standing need at the hospital.
The three-storey facility is being constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 24 crore. Of this, Rs 16.63 crore has been sanctioned under the central government’s Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM), while the state government is contributing Rs 7.37 crore.
Construction work has already commenced and is being expedited with the aim of making the facility operational within the next few months.
Around 50 beds planned
The new critical care block will have around 50 beds and is being designed to cater to patients requiring urgent and specialised treatment.
The facility will include accident and emergency care, a medical ICU, surgical ICU and burn treatment facilities. It will also have emergency rooms and observation beds to ensure that critically ill patients can be assessed and stabilised without unnecessary delays.
A high dependency unit (HDU) and isolation ICU are also part of the planned infrastructure.
The new block will additionally have a general operation theatre, dialysis facilities, a blood storage room and laboratory services. X-ray and ultrasound facilities will be available within the unit, helping doctors carry out essential investigations without requiring critically ill patients to be shifted extensively between departments.
Doctors’ rooms and registration facilities are also included in the plan.
Facility to strengthen trauma care
At present, emergency treatment is provided in the casualty section of the old hospital building. While Wenlock already provides treatment for critically ill patients, hospital authorities have noted the absence of a comprehensive critical care facility bringing the required services together in a dedicated block.
The new unit is intended to bridge this gap and provide faster and more coordinated treatment for patients in critical condition.
Accident victims, particularly those suffering from serious injuries or head trauma, will be among the key beneficiaries. The facility will also cater to patients experiencing heart attacks, severe breathing difficulties, burns and other medical emergencies requiring immediate intervention.
By bringing emergency care, intensive care, diagnostic facilities and other supporting services together, the unit is expected to improve the hospital’s ability to manage critical cases.
Growing demand for advanced care
Wenlock District Hospital serves a large population extending beyond Dakshina Kannada district. Patients from Udupi and other parts of Karnataka also seek treatment at the hospital, while people from neighbouring states are among those who access its medical services.
The growing patient load and the hospital’s role as a major government healthcare institution prompted the authorities to propose a dedicated critical care facility.
Hospital authorities submitted a proposal to the state government highlighting the need for advanced infrastructure. Following discussions in the Cabinet, approval was granted for construction of the new critical care unit.
The project is now progressing at the hospital premises, with authorities working to complete the facility at the earliest.
Old laundry area converted for critical care
The new unit is being constructed in the old laundry area of Wenlock District Hospital. The three-storey structure has been planned specifically to accommodate the various departments and services required for critical and trauma care.
The ground floor will also have a facility for arranging and storing medicines. This is expected to support quick access to essential medicines during emergencies.
The design aims to ensure that patients requiring urgent intervention can be assessed, treated and monitored within a dedicated environment rather than depending entirely on facilities in the older hospital building.
The creation of a separate critical care block is expected to ease pressure on the existing casualty facilities while strengthening the hospital’s emergency response capacity.
Can serve during future pandemics
Apart from its immediate role in trauma and emergency care, the new facility has been designed with the possibility of responding to future public health emergencies.
Hospital authorities said the block can be used as an isolated hospital in the event of a pandemic similar to Covid-19. The availability of an isolation ICU and dedicated infrastructure could allow critically ill infectious disease patients to be managed separately from other hospital services.
This flexibility is expected to make the facility useful beyond its initial role as a trauma care centre.
Dr Shivaprakash, superintendent of Wenlock District Hospital, said the facility is being constructed adjacent to the post-mortem room and can be converted into an isolated hospital if a similar infectious disease emergency occurs in the future.
“For now, it will be used as a trauma block,” he said, adding that construction is expected to be completed within around two to three months.
Major boost to government healthcare
The Rs 24 crore project is expected to significantly strengthen critical and emergency healthcare services at Wenlock District Hospital.
For a hospital that receives patients from a wide geographical area, timely access to intensive care can be crucial, particularly in cases involving major accidents, cardiac emergencies, severe injuries and other life-threatening conditions.
The planned combination of ICU facilities, emergency rooms, operating facilities, dialysis, diagnostics, blood storage and isolation infrastructure could allow the hospital to manage complex cases more efficiently.
Once completed and commissioned, the facility is expected to provide a dedicated setting for trauma and critical care while also adding capacity to respond to future health emergencies.
With construction already under way, hospital authorities are targeting the opening of the facility within two to three months. The project, once operational, is likely to mark a significant upgrade in emergency and critical care infrastructure at Wenlock District Hospital and benefit patients from Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, other parts of Karnataka and neighbouring states.