Malda Medical College to get 50 new fridges for preserving bodies

Kolkata: In a further boost to health infrastructure in the state, Malda Medical College and Hospital is going to install as many as 50 large fridges to preserve bodies inside the hospital mortuary.

Malda Medical College and Hospital caters to a huge number of patients from different districts in North Bengal. There was a demand for more fridges to refrigerate the bodies as the existing six fridges were not enough. As a result of this, the bodies were often kept on the floor of mortuary.

After considering the seriousness of the matter, the state government has allotted a fund to procure 50 new fridges, which will be immensely beneficial for the hospital authorities to handle the situation. According to hospital sources, around 4-6 bodies have to preserved by the hospital on a regular basis.

A senior official of the hospital said that 30 out of the 50 fridges have already been installed at the mortuary, while the rest will be set up soon. PWD has been looking after the project, the official said.

"We are thankful to the state government for providing funds to install as many as 50 large fridges to preserve bodies. All the fridges would soon be made operational. There has been a scarcity of fridges in the mortuary for a long time," said Dr Pratap Kundu, principal of Malda Medical College and Hospital.

It may also be mentioned that the state government has already taken a decision to increase 201 beds in the hospital. The state Health department has recently decided to upgrade the infrastructure at three medical colleges in the state by developing infrastructure of many of the existing units. They are Bankura Sammilani Medical College, Malda Medical College and North Bengal Medical College and Hospital.

The Health department has also decided to increase 249 beds in Bankura Sammilani Medical College and 254 beds in North Bengal Medical College and Hospital in a bid to ensure better health service.

Separate units for plastic surgery, pediatric surgery, CTVS, dialysis unit, cardiology, general ICU, etc. will be developed in all the three medical colleges. The Health department has also announced a nephrology unit in North Bengal Medical College and Hospital.