AIIMS to run new 120-bed night shelter

Union Health Minister J P Nadda on Thursday inaugurated a 120-bed night shelter at AIIMS here to alleviate the hassles experienced by outstation patients and their accompanying relatives.

Set up by Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) Officers’ Wives’ Association and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), the shelter will serve the public on the ‘first come, first served’ basis.

A person using the shelter is being provided with washroom facilities, bed with blanket, and breakfast. A 2,200-bed hospital, AIIMS receives over 10,000 patients daily, out of whom 2,500 are indoor patients who have to stay in the hospital or nearby areas, according to the Health Ministry.

It’s estimated that over 1,000 patients a day have been sleeping rough on the stair-cases of Metro stations, the pavements within the premises of AIIMS, and the footpaths, says the ministry.