Why the hospital is 'super specialized'

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has inaugurated another modern hospital at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University-BSMMU. It is named as 'BSMMU Super Specialized Hospital'. Even if it is inaugurated, it will take another month to start. Specialized hospitals are called 'specialised'. But why 'super specialized'? Reportedly, there are multiple specialized departments under one roof, separate operation theaters for departments and additional services—not available in general hospitals. So it is the first super specialized hospital in the country.

According to related sources, the country's first super-specialized hospital has cost a little more than one and a half thousand crore rupees. Of this, the Korean government has given 1000 crore rupees. This hospital is built on 12 bigha area next to BSMMU hospital. The 13-storey hospital has 750 beds, 14 state-of-the-art operation theaters in various departments, 100-bed ICU. The emergency department will have 100 beds, VVIP cabins will have six beds, VIP cabins will have 22 beds and deluxe beds will have 25 beds. Each center based ward will have 8 beds.

The hospital will have all the latest diagnostic facilities including X-ray, MRI, CTscan. A total of 300 doctors and 1,200 health workers including specialists are expected to work in the hospital. 56 Korean consultants will work alongside Bangladeshi doctors for two years in this hospital, which will be run through 6 specialized centers, who will play a role in making the local manpower more efficient.

Besides, the hospital will have Accidental Emergency Service in the first phase, which was not available earlier in BSMMU Hospital. This emergency service will be open 24 hours and the emergency department also has an operation theatre. Besides, this super specialized hospital has Autism Center, Maternal and Child Health Care Center, Emergency Medical Care Center, Hepatobiliary and Gastroenterology Center, Cardio and Cerebro Vascular Center and Kidney Center.

The second phase will have respiratory medicine center, general surgery center, ophthalmology, dentistry, dermatology center and physical medicine or rehabilitation center. It will also have world-class medical facilities like bone marrow transplantation, robotic surgery, gene therapy. Besides, the hospital will have sunken garden, rooftop garden and various environment friendly facilities for beautiful environment. There will be state-of-the-art modern management offices, info desks and digital information centers.

According to the hospital officials, there will be a central automated patient database like in foreign hospitals - where a patient's doctor's advice, prescriptions, medical reports will all be stored online. Besides, the patients themselves can also download the report from online.

A modern system in this hospital is that pneumatic tubes are installed in every department. Through which the blood will automatically go to the indicated section after collection. A pneumatic tube is a system that drives compressed air or partial vacuum through a network of cylindrical pipes in a cylindrical container. They are used to transport solids unlike conventional pipelines that transport liquids.

When asked why the hospital is super specialized, BSMMU VC Professor Dr. Sharfuddin Ahmed said that Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University has been established as a center of excellence to get familiar with the new research and innovation in the field of medicine and to apply it in the health care of the people. Super specialized hospitals have been built in the country to ensure advanced medical care, state-of-the-art post graduate training for doctors, biomedical research, gene therapy, robotic surgery and ensure high quality healthcare for the people. The specialized treatment system for various complex diseases including heart disease, kidney disease, liver, gallbladder and pancreatic, organ transplant, cancer, neurosurgery in the super specialized hospital will be marked as a new milestone in the medical field of Bangladesh.

He further said, 'This hospital has many services - which are not available in general hospitals. The treatment cost in this hospital will be at your fingertips. Therefore, if this hospital is opened, I think the dependence of going abroad will be reduced. Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's dream was that the people of Bangladesh would get all kinds of advanced medical services in the country. So that patients do not have to go abroad for treatment. I believe that goal will be fulfilled to a large extent after the super specialized hospital is opened.