MCD plans MRI and CT facilities at three major hospitals in city

New Delhi: Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has drawn up a plan to set up advanced CT scan and MRI facilities at three of its major hospitals — Hindu Rao Hospital in central Delhi, Swami Dayanand Hospital in east Delhi and Rajan Babu Institute of Pulmonary Medicine and Tuberculosis in north Delhi — through a public-private partnership (PPP) model at CGHS- and NABH-linked regulated rates.The three hospitals have together recorded more than 30 lakh outpatient department visits and around 1.3 lakh inpatient department admissions over the past two years, reflecting a steady rise in demand for advanced radiology services.The proposal was initiated after Swami Dayanand Hospital sought approval for an integrated imaging centre with CT and MRI facilities. Subsequent site inspections confirmed that adequate space was available at all three hospitals to establish modern imaging centres.Under the proposed plan, private partners will invest in, procure, install and operate 128-slice CT and 1.5 Tesla MRI systems without any financial support from MCD."It was found that many economically weaker patients visiting MCD hospitals are compelled to undergo expensive CT and MRI investigations at private diagnostic centres, leading to financial hardship. The proposed project aims to reduce out-of-pocket expenditure by making affordable CT and MRI services available within MCD hospitals at regulated CGHS-linked rates," an official said.MCD has also proposed a cluster-based model covering all three hospitals to improve operational viability and ensure standardised service delivery in the future.