The Krishna Medical Centre Hospital’s Respiratory Centre of Excellence delivers integrated healthcare services to the disadvantaged people of Uttarakhand’s Garhwal region. Krishna Medical Centre established the Centre of Excellence to promote respiratory health in the region with funding from the SAMRIDH Healthcare Blended Finance Facility, financed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and executed by IPE Global. This centre, which will serve as a single referral centre for all pulmonological cases in the region, has a 12-bed intensive care unit (ICU) and an 8-bed high-dependency unit (HDU), as well as highly specialised state-of-the-art equipment such as a multi-slice CT scan and video bronchoscopy.
With the assistance of USAID and SAMRIDH, Samarpan Society, a non-profit arm of KMC, is implementing the innovative hub and spoke model in the region, in which facilities with extensive experience serve as “hubs” and disseminate their knowledge, practise, and experience to “spoke” facilities with less experience. As part of this project, five satellite centres have been created in the state’s outlying districts to treat patients via tele-health consultations with specialist doctors based at KMC (the hub). Six mobile medical units and one cancer screening mobile unit have also been deployed in the remote terrains of Chakrata in the Garhwal region to host regular medical clinics giving door-to-door delivery of essential healthcare services.
“For 70 years, USAID has worked in partnership with the Indian Government to improve the health of India’s most vulnerable communities and the well-being of its people,” Sangita Patel, USAID Health Officer Director, stated. We are pleased that our support for the Krishna Medical Centre Hospital’s integrated healthcare solution, as part of the SAMRIDH programme, is delivering uninterrupted, comprehensive, and inexpensive healthcare services to individuals living in distant Uttarakhand.
SAMRIDH
Speaking about the collaboration, Himanshu Sikka, Project Director at SAMRIDH and Chief Strategy and Diversification Officer at IPE Global, stated, “At SAMRIDH, we are committed to supporting innovative market solutions that focus on improving the health and well-being of vulnerable communities.” We hope to provide respiratory healthcare services to those living in distant highland areas through our collaboration with Krishna Medical Centre Hospital. We genuinely believe that Krishna Medical Centre’s integrated medical model and centre of excellence will be a game changer in the Garhwal region, providing a solution to the long-standing issue of last mile healthcare delivery.”
“The HUB and SPOKE model, created through collaboration with the USAID-supported SAMRIDH initiative, will serve as a sustainable model for continued healthcare services focused on COVID-19,” stated Dr Geeta Kumar, Medical Director, Krishna Medical Centre Hospital. We are confident that the horrors of the last pandemic, as well as the challenges of respiratory disorders such as COPD and tuberculosis, will be alleviated in the near future. The Uttarakhand Government’s incredibly effective Atal Ayushman Scheme will help move our idea forward. Patients will be treated at no cost at the respiratory centre of excellence thanks to funding given under the SAMRIDH assistance, and treatment continuity will be ensured thanks to government panel support.
