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Just In
Apollo's New Offering
Apollo Hospitals Group has launched its first standalone
quaternary care paediatric hospital-Apollo Children's Hospital. It is truly
taking paediatric healthcare to the next level, finds out Nancy Singh
 Located
in the heart of Chennai, just a stone's throw away from the flagship Apollo
Hospitals at Greams Lane is Apollo Children's Hospital. The 80-bed facility,
which was recently inaugurated by Oscar Award winner music composer AR Rahman,
aims to provide the finest quaternary-level paediatric care in the country.
The hospital has been functional since April 29, 2009. At the time of inauguration,
the ace composer said, "This hospital is like a symphony with its numerous
centres of excellence with highly skilled doctors and an incredibly child-friendly
ambience. I am sure that this harmony will enable boundless possibilities and
make medical marvels happen everyday!"
The Children Hospital
Apollo Children's Hospital provides comprehensive paediatric care to children
and adolescents up to the age of 16 years under-one-roof. Established on a built-up
area of 39,000 square feet, it is complete with state-of-the-art neonatology
care units, paediatric intensive care units and hi-tech operating rooms (which
includes a separate facility for complex cardiac surgeries), procedure rooms,
dedicated clinics for chronic ailments, preventive healthcare, developmental
disorders and counseling services, an NICU, three OTs, sunshine ward (the general
ward is addressed by this name), cheerful private rooms and tasteful suites.
The hospital has around 45 paediatric specialists and over 180 nurses. "Apollo
Children hospital is unique due to the wealth of disciplines all under-one-roof.
Our first standalone paediatric quaternary care multi-speciality hospital, it
is a perfect combination of global best practices along with optimum mix of
clinical care, cutting edge research and detailed learning. We intend to use
the Apollo Children's Hospital as a model and expand the concept further,”
says Dr Prathap Reddy, Chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group. Sindhoori Reddy, the
grand-daughter of Dr Prathap Reddy, has been closely associated with this project
and is the Vice President - Operations of the hospital. She elaborates, "A
stand-alone hospital has been a milestone in what we hope is a long and path-breaking
journey. Tender loving care takes an entire new dimension when it comes to children."
An investment of Rs 30 crore has gone in building this hospital which was built
in a record time of six months.
The Design
 "A
stand-alone hospital has been a milestone in what we hope is a long and
path-breaking journey"
- Sindhoori Reddy
Vice President - Operations
Apollo Children's Hospital
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 "We
intend to use the Apollo Children's Hospital as a model and expand the concept
further"
- Dr Prathap Reddy
Chairman
Apollo Hospitals Group
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Specifics have gone into making the facilities as children-friendly
as possible. At Apollo Children’s Hospital, a warm and friendly staff is
supported by aesthetics to make the overall ambience welcoming and friendly.
A myriad of colours and wallpapers are present in every nook and corner of the
hospital. A special attraction for the children is the play area whereby many
kids' books draw the attention of the young patients. Says Anitha K, Chief Hospital
Administrator, Apollo Children's Hospital, "It reiterates our mission to
make the young child as comfortable as possible in the new environment. The
brightly done up play area goes a long way in getting the child familiarised
with his/ her surroundings."
The child-friendly features convey a picture of a hospital that is cheerful,
warm and welcoming, which is etched forever in the child's memory and which
he/ she will associate as a reference even when the child grows up.
Intensive Care
The Apollo team has pooled in the best talents in the country
to provide the most sophisticated paediatric intensive care in the country.
NICU: At the 14-bed NICU, high-risk newborn babies
with varied problems like peri-natal hypoxia, respiratory distress, congenital
heart disease, hyper- biliubinemia, very low birth weight and prematurity are
looked after at the NICU. "The NICU includes modern ventilators with high-frequency
mode, bubble CPAP, incubators, warmers and phototherapy units," informs
Anitha K. The technology is backed up by 24-hours lab-services, imaging facilities,
bedside echocardiogram and also a dedicated ambulance service that picks up
the sick newborns from other hospital/ nursing homes. The NICU is manned by
paediatric surgeons, cardiothoracic team and paediatric anaesthetists who can
handle congenital anomalies, including heart problems that are required to be
operated in the new-born period.
PICU: Equipped for every paediatric emergency, the
hospital is geared to care for acute problem and emergencies promptly and efficiently
in the 'golden hours'. The emergency and PICU will be complementary to each
other and is functional 24-7. The PICU is unique as it is headed by senior consultants
well-trained in the delivery of intensive care. If the situation escalates to
an emergency, the team is able to respond faster with the aid of hi-tech equipment
and well-defined operation protocols. The PICU/ ER team liaises with the concerned
specialist and co-ordinates care. Specialised trained nurses provide one-on-one
care for children recovering from illness, trauma, cardio-thoracic surgery and
transplant operations. In addition, there is specialised expertise in intensive
care for patients with critical injuries, including head and multi-organ trauma.
Experienced teams provide care for post-operative patients, including the ones
with congenital heart disease, neuro-surgical, urological and orthopaedic conditions.
Dr Prathap Reddy and AR Rehman during the inauguration |
A play area |
A paedetrician with a child |
The colour-friendly ICU |
The Comprehensive Care Team
Apollo Children's Hospital goes about its business of 'touching
lives' with a skilled and dedicated 'Comprehensive Care Team'. This team broadly
includes medical, surgical and support staff. It also has doctors who have niche
specialisation in caring for children with chronic heart diseases. An impressive
1:1 ratio is maintained most of the times. In few of the extremely critical
cases, there could be even two nurses.
High Dependency Area
This is a six-bed high-dependency unit with isolation facilities. It is a dedicated
ward for children who need close observation and monitoring. Says Reddy, "The
high-dependency unit enables the team at the Apollo Children's hospital to provide
the crucial additional level of care - an intermediate level of care, on a need-based
model. In a nutshell, the high-depenency unit serves as 'step-down' from the
PICU and a step-up from the ward."
Emergency Services
Emergency services at the hospital is based on the central premise that the
needs of a child are lot different from that of an adult, and this is especially
true in case of emergency. There is a specialist available round-the-clock for
consultation. Treatment is overseen by peadiatricians with special training
in paediatric emergency and care is delivered by the resident doctors, nurses
and technicians. A certified counselor is available to support and prepare children
and families for difficult procedures. "We make a conscious effort to be
sensitive to the child-patient and the family's physical, emotional and financial
needs," says Anitha K. The department has facilities for triage, observation
and resuscitation. As the team is notified that an injured child is en-route
to the hospital, the special trauma care team including physicians, nurses,
radiologists and laboratory personnel are activated and put on alert.
The Transport Team
The hospital's emergency transport '1066' delivers expert
care and provides efficient transport of critically ill or injured infants and
children. The transport team includes PICU-trained paramedics and critical care
attendants. The team transports patients of all ages, from newborn to adolescents,
suffering from a wide variety of problems like respiratory, infectious, neurologic
and congenital heart diseases and traumatic injuries.
Transplant Rooms
The two dedicated HEPA filter transplant rooms are managed
by the PICU personnel, in close co-ordination with the transplant team. These
rooms have facilities for invasive monitoring and ventilation.
Cardiac Intensive Care
Cardiac care at the children hospital too occupies a place
of prime importance. The cardiac intensive care unit is focused at supporting
the neo-natal and paediatric patients with complex congenital and acquired heart
disease. The hospital has an operating room dedicated only for cardiac procedures.
"The medical equipment is designed to care for small neonates, (often premature).
Cardiothoracic surgeons and anaesthiologists at the cardiac ICU are closely
supported by a team of specially trained operating room nurses, surgical technicians
and perfusionists," says Anitha K.
 True
to the Apollo way, to make the environment as child-friendly as possible,
'Paws' (a teddy bear) is the latest member in the 'Apollo family'. You can
spot him at every place in the hospital smiling at you! |
Paediatric Surgery
This department forms the backbone of surgical support at the hospital. The
entire range of surgical problems, including the stomach, intestine and colon,
lung and thoracic surgery, plastic surgical procedures, head and neck conditions
and peripheral limb lesions are covered. The broad division under which this
department operates are:
Ante-natal counseling: Aimed at comprehensive counseling
for the parents of unborn children who are diagnosed to have anomalies on ultrasound
scan. The parents can therefore make informed choices and can prepare for surgery,
if needed, after baby's birth.
Day-Care Surgery: it has around six-beds allocated
for 'day-care' procedures. For these, short surgeries like hernia, hydrocele,
circumcision, toungue tie release, dermoid etc are treated. The mother remains
with the child the entire day to provide close support throughout the stay.
New-born Surgery: This is an area which needs special
expertise and extra care. The department leads the field in ensuring safe and
effective surgical care for very small new-borns, some weighing less than one-kg,
and also for pre-mature babies.
Laparoscopic Surgery & MIS: It has consultants
who are specialised in this modality. Laparoscopic surgery of the gall bladder,
stomach, intestine, spleen and kidney is routinely done with promising results.
Apollo has plans to replicate this model in the entire country, but it is too
far-fetched an idea as this hospital is just commissioned and the group would
rather focus on this standalone hospital as of now. Thus, Apollo has over 25
years constantly endeavoured to innovate and excel in every field of medical
care. Surely, this hospital is taking child-healthcare to a completely next-level.
nancy.singh@expressindia.com
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