The inauguration of the Golden jubilee project of Inner Wheel Club of Cochin West took place on 5th October. Shri. Hibi Eden, Member of Parliament, inaugurated the refurbished Cathlab of General Hospital, Ernakulam. Dr. Anitha , Superintendent of General Hospital, Ernakulam, and Doctors of Cardiology department were present. In keeping with COVID-19 protocols, the meeting was conducted virtually. President Sheila Philip and members of IWC Cochin West, District Chairman Deepti Anoop, District dignitaries, Sister club Presidents and Secretaries were all present virtually.

The Project

The Cardiology Department of Ernakulam General Hospital boasts of a CATHLAB which was installed three years ago. This Cathlab is the first of its kind in Government sector in the district, rendering State-of-the-art health care to poor patients. It also has three ICUs and a bed strength of 34, with an average occupancy rate of over 95%. During three years of functioning of the Cathlab, around 11,000 procedures including Angioplasties, Permanent Pacemakers, Implantable Defibrillators and Angiographies were performed there by the seven Cardiologists and support staff.

We are very happy to have been able to do the following projects in this Cathlab for the convenience of the hundreds of poor and needy patients who seek treatment here.

1. Construction of Pre-Catheterisation Room where patients are assessed before the procedure.
2. Construction of a toilet attached to the Pre-catheterisation room.
3. Construction of a store room for the Cathlab.
4. Provision of Cardiac tables for the Cathlab.
5. Installation of Air curtains at the entry to the Cathlab.
6. Construction of a tiled waiting area for the bystanders.
7. Providing steel multiple chair units for the waiting area.
8. Beautification of the waiting area with potted plants .

Total project cost is almost £5,200.

The President, Mrs. Sheila Philip, her team office bearers and the members of Inner Wheel Club of Cochin West are happy and proud to dedicate all these services to the public at this Inauguration.

In keeping with the need of the hour, the club donated 200 reusable Utility gloves, 10 litres of Sanitizer solution and 10 litres of Cleaning Solution to the Hospital for its daily maintenance.

We are happy that we are able to help this great institution and be part of the service it is providing for the treatment to the economically backward section of the patients who are solely depending on this Hospital for their health care needs. We record our sincere gratitude to the Superintendent and the entire team at GH for their excellent cooperation.

Dr. Sandhya Bhat