GMC cardiology department expands to enhance patient care with new units

Panaji: With workload at the GMC’s cardiology department increasing exponentially, health minister Vishwajit Rane on Thursday said facilities at the department will be enhanced to streamline them.
During a meeting Rane held with the department, GMC dean Prof S M Bandekar, and medical superintendent Dr Rajesh Patil, he decided that the addition of three units would ensure better care for patients. Bandekar told TOI that the department presently has one unit. “A need has been felt to have three independent units of around three cardiologists,” he said.
“The three units will each have a chief. Each of the units will be posted only in the cath lab, the ward, and in the OPD where they will work, and the units will rotate periodically,” Bandekar said and added, “According to the National Medical Commission, each unit should have three doctors.”
The department is expected to receive two more doctors under bond and is also looking to increase the number of postgraduate seats. “If we have independent units, one of these can also be sent to help somebody in outreach,” he said.
“With the rising number of patients, we will be expanding to three units to ensure better care and accessibility,” Rane stated.
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‘MRI machine for Hospicio in pipeline’
Panaji: A tender was floated for an MRI machine for the South Goa District Hospital (Hospicio) and quotations have also been received, said health minister Vishwajit Rane in a written reply in the Goa legislative assembly. He said there is a need for an MRI machine, while responding to a question by Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai. The health minister added that it is also desired to have a Dexa (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry) scanner at the hospital, which uses X-rays to measure bone density.
Patients are referred from the South Goa District Hospital’s surgery department to the GMC for urology and neurology opinions. The obstetrics and gynaecology department refers patients to GMC in cases of them requiring component blood therapy. The hospital’s ENT department refers patients who are unfit or at high risk for anaesthesia or in cases of malignancies of the ear, nose, and throat, Rane said. tnn