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A New Innings

After eight years, BL Kapur Hospital in Delhi has resurrected itself. Sonal Vij does a de tour to know how different this one is

As you travel in Delhi metro from West to Central Delhi, you will come across a jaw-dropping structure and presume that it is a new hotel, but when you see a fleet of ambulances near it, you realise that it is a new hospital.

A Welcome Change

Strategically located, at walking distance from Rajindera Place metro station, BL Kapur Hospital (BLKH) promises to fill the shortage of beds in this city. "There was a dire need of a hospital in this part of the city. There was no super specialty hospital besides Sir Ganga Ram in West and North Delhi. The patient: bed ratio in this area is very high and keeping in view this need, it was decided to create a super specialty hospital in place of existing maternity hospital," says SS Sodhi, CEO, BLKH.

Advocating the strategic location, Sodhi says,"We are conveniently located in the heart of the city on Pusa Road which is about four kilometres from the centre, with the added advantage of being on the CP-Dwarka metro line." In fact, Rajindera Place metro station is right in front of the hospital.

The BL Kapur Story

There is a deep history behind this glass structure that glares at you. The founder of this hospital, Dr BL Kapur, an eminent obstetrician and gynaecologist of his times, first set up a charitable hospital in 1930 at Lahore (now in Pakistan). The hospital was funded through generous contributions made by Dr BL Kapur and eminent citizens of Lahore. In 1941, Dr Kapur formed the Lahore Hospital Society (LHS), a non-profit organisation, and brought the hospital under the control of the society. In 1947, Dr Kapur moved to India and set up a maternity hospital at Ludhiana under the name 'Ludhiana Maternity Hospital.' In 1956, the efforts of Dr Kapur were recognised by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, then the Prime Minister of India, who invited him to set up a large hospital in Delhi. The land was allotted by the Government. Subsequently, a 200-bed hospital was built under the name 'Delhi Maternity Hospital'. The hospital was inaugurated in 1959 by Pandit Nehru.

After the demise of Dr Kapur, in 1969 as a fitting tribute to his efforts in the service of the people, the names of the 'Ludhiana Maternity Hospital' and 'Delhi Maternity Hospital' were changed to 'Dr BL Kapur Memorial Hospital' at Ludhiana and Delhi.

Re-born in a New Avatar

"The emphasis has been to make a functional facility rather than a decorative one" - SS Sodhi CEO BL Kapur Memorial Hospital

"Our radiation oncology department provides radiation techniques like IGRT, IMRT, SRT and 3DCRT" - Dr S Hukku Senior Consultant Radiation Department BL Kapur Memorial Hospital

For the next 40 years after its inception, the hospital at Delhi gained reputation and served the community. But with passage of time, the need was felt to upgrade the hospital to a super-specialty hospital. The hospital was unable to keep pace with the changing times. "Due to poor condition of the building and outdated equipment, the activities gradually declined and the hospital finally ceased to function in the year 2000," recalls Sodhi.

The management was faced with a choice —either to renovate/upgrade the existing building or demolish it and re-construct it de novo. After giving both options a serious thought, the trustees felt that renovating an old building would be difficult and cumbersome, and rather preferred to demolish and re-construct it.

There have been management changes and controversies dogging the hospital. Previously, Dr Pervez Ahmed was the CEO. Till then, the hospital was headed by the Medical Superintendent. Dr Ahmed quit for some unknown reasons. Finally, in the early 2005, the construction started again. Then in 2004, Sodhi joined the hospital and construction started again.

The Facilities

A modern state-of-the-art super-specialty hospital has come up in place of the old hospital. The hospital sports one of the best infrastructure and equipment to provide quality healthcare solutions to its patients. The bed capacity is about 500. Since the hospital has come about after nine years, there are many who will take time to recall the hospital. At present, the hospital has opened with only two ward floors with over 150 beds. The rest of the beds will be opened as the occupancy picks up. Hospital has more than 80 beds in critical care for adults and around 30 beds exclusively for neo-natal and paediatric intensive care. The hospital has 17 modular operation theatres, two cath labs, 17 dialysis machines, a linear accelerator, gamma scan, MRI, CT scan, digital X- ray, ultrasound, mammography to name a few. It also has fully computerised and integrated laboratories to support the treatment of its patients.

Mother & Child Care

The state-of-the art ICU

The grand lobby

The cath lab

The new hospital hasn't forgotten Dr BL Kapur's passion—child and women healthcare. The hospital has dedicated the fourth floor exclusively for women and child health. This floor has around 56 patient beds, three birthing suites, a labour room, a nursery, a neo-natal ICU, one paediatric ICU and an operation theatre for emergency caesarean cases.

"It becomes inconvenient for the pregnant woman to be carried from one floor to the other. By having the operation theatre on the same floor we have ensured that the patient is not unnecessarily wheeled around and taken from one floor to another compromising on her safety and privacy," says Sodhi.

The hospital is one of the first ones to introduce the concept of birthing suite in this part of the city. "We are also following the concept of birthing suites, wherein a patient is admitted in a room, she delivers in that room and then is discharged from the same room. By introducing this concept in this part of Delhi, we are setting unique benchmarks," boasts Sodhi. The hospital uses RFID tags to prevent theft of children from the hospital. If any unauthorised person tries to take the baby outside the labour room then there will be an alarm.

RFID tags also establishes identity of a patient and helps to minimise medical errors and avoid unauthorised movement of the new born.

The department of paediatrics has sub-specialty clinics like paediatric endocrinology, paediatric gastroenterology, paediatric surgery, adolescent medicine, paediatric dermatology, paediatric counsellor, speech and audio therapist.

Focus on Oncology

The hospital provides comprehensive oncology services — medical, surgical and radiation. "The incidence of cancer in the country is rising alarmingly. The city needs a comprehensive cancer facility," says Sodhi.

Says Dr S Hukku, Senior Consultant, Department of Radiation Oncology, "The department of radiation oncology is at the forefront of medical technology and expertise. It provides a complete range of latest radiation techniques, including IGRT, IMRT, SRT, and 3DCRT." The hospital is also using the power of Trilogy Tx linear accelerator which yields treatment times that are shorter, making the experience more comfortable for the patient. The precision of Trilogy Tx allows sparing healthy tissues to an extent that was unimaginable only a few years ago.

Green Architecture

It is an organically planned and designed green building to allow sunlight in patient areas. This architecture reduces environmental foot print and conserves energy. Waste and rain water are recycled and used for various activities such as horticulture, air conditioning and so on. Kothari Associates, well known to construct healthcare facilities, were hired.

Well, looking at the hospital, one may wonder, how much money was invested? "The cost of construction per bed is around Rs 45 lakh. We have optimised costs by using appropriate technology and materials. The emphasis has been to make a functional facility rather than a decorative one," says Sodhi.

IT Adoption

Wi-Fi enabled devices will provide patient records by click of a mouse from anywhere in the world. RFID tags, bar code technology and Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) will be used to improve patient care. "BLKH has one of Delhi's first automated pneumatic chute systems with over 40 stations and EMR system. Our endeavour is to provide quality care to the patients by harnessing innovative technology," says Dr Goldie Gabrani, IT Head, BLKH.

The hospital took the HIS system from Amrita Technology, Kochi. “They already run a 1,300-bed hospital using this HIS system. Their engineers are in Delhi. So, whenever, there is a problem, we can call them here and discuss," explains Dr Gabrani, on the choice of technology. This HIS is in-built with ERP.

Quality

The hospital has been designed for maximum safety and comfort for patients and healthcare providers and also to comply with the national and international standards in hospital accreditation. Robust quality and infection control practices, access control, stringent bio-medical waste disposal practices and three-stage air filtration are in place to ensure better patient management. The hospital is designed keeping in mind the NABH and JCI standards. The hospital will apply for these standards after a year.

Marketing Strategies

BLKH is making its presence felt. The marketing effort of the hospital is to create awareness about the facility and several steps are being taken including the following— camps, CMEs workshops, conferences and out-reach programmes. Each pharmacy store in the area is supplied with BLKH branded carry bags to give to patients. The posters are also displayed in neighbourhood.

Expansion Plans

Next on the cards is up-gradation of the Ludhiana facility on the lines of the Delhi hospital. It is not yet decided whether the structure will be entirely rebuilt or renovations will take place on the existing facility. Also, another super-specialty facility in the NCR region is being planned. So, considering the demand for healthcare in the region, hopefully the hospital would become a destination of choice!

sonal.vij@expressindia.com