The Divisional Railway Hospital, also known as the Ponmalai railway hospital, is a secondary hospital in Golden Rock, in the Tiruchirappalli district, Tamil Nadu, India. This hospital is managed by the Southern Railway zone's Tiruchirappalli railway division. It serves active and retired Indian Railway employees and their families.
| Divisional Railway Hospital | |
|---|---|
| Southern Railway zone | |
 Main entrance of the hospital | |
 | |
| Geography | |
| Location | Golden Rock, Tiruchirappalli, Tiruchirappalli district, Tamil Nadu, India |
| Coordinates | 10°47′04″N 78°43′31″E / 10.7845°N 78.7253°E |
| Organisation | |
| Funding | Public hospital |
| Type | Full-service medical center |
| Patron | Dr. V. K. Ramteke (DG/RHS)[1][a] |
| Network | Indian Railway Hospitals |
| Services | |
| Emergency department | Yes |
| Beds | 197 |
| Helipad | No |
| History | |
| Opened | 1927 |
| Links | |
| Website | Railway Health Directorate |
History
editThe hospital is located amidst the Railway Quarters in Golden Rock, near the Golden Rock Railway Workshop[2] and Golden Rock Shandy. Established in 1927 by the erstwhile South Indian Railway Company,[3] it is the oldest hospital in the Southern Railway zone – older than the Zonal hospital at Perambur, which was constructed in 1928.[4] It is part of Indian Railway Medical Services, which maintains a large network of hospitals – 56 divisional and 9 zonal.[5]
Administration
editThe personnel health care in Indian Railways is managed by the Director General of Railway Health Services under the Railway Health Directorate, an apex body at the Railway Board.[6] The Chief Medical Director of the Southern Railway zone oversees the health affairs at the zonal level, under which five divisional hospitals function at Arakkonam, Madurai, Palakkad, Thiruvananthapuram, and Golden Rock, headed by Chief Medical Superintendents.[7] As of 2016, the officer in charge of the hospital is the Chief Medical Officer,[b] Dr R. Soundararajan,[8] an orthopod, who reports to Dr P. Velusamy, the Chief Medical Superintendent for the Tiruchirappalli railway division.[9][a]
Background
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Being one of 56 divisional railway hospitals in India,[1] the hospital functions exclusively for the benefit of serving and retired railway employees and their families,[10] comprising about 100,000 people[4] belonging to the Tiruchirappalli railway division and spanning 10 districts of Tamil Nadu.[11][12] Besides this main facility, the hospital also maintains a 25-bed sub-divisional Hospital at Villupuram and eight Railway Health Units/Polyclinic at Tiruchirappalli Junction, Tiruchirappalli Fort, Srirangam, Vriddhachalam, Tiruvannamalai, Thanjavur, Mayiladuthurai, and Tiruvarur.[4][13]
Facilities
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The hospital has 21 full-time doctors in eight departments: General medicine, General Surgery, gynaecology, Paediatrics, ophthalmology, anaesthesiology, physiotheraphy and orthopediatrics. These are supplemented with a clinical laboratory, digital X-ray unit, ultrasound scan, operation theater, casualty department, ambulance, treadmill, intensive care unit, and blood bank facilities.[14] Additionally, specialists in the field of urology, pulmonology, cardiology, psychiatry, dermatology and dental surgery are regularly engaged on an ad hoc basis for the patients with weekly once OPDs.
Developments
editThe hospital, which is visited by about 600 outpatients daily,[10] also has 197 beds for inpatients,[4] including the 2016 addition of a 100-bed surgical ward.[15] The building that once housed the isolation ward was renovated at a cost of ₹10 lakh (US$12,000) with 12 beds for the sake of inpatients' attendants, with basic amenities for free of cost.[14] About 5 LED television sets and playing equipment for the children at hospital were donated from the Railway Staff Benefit fund.[16] An orthopaedic block with 57 beds was constructed at the second floor of the surgical ward, covering an area about 1,000 square metres (11,000 sq ft) and costing ₹1.65 crore (US$200,000); also installed were a ₹25 lakh (US$30,000) bed lift and an automated analyser and mechanical ventilator at a cost of ₹2.52 lakh (US$3,000) and ₹2.99 lakh (US$3,600), respectively.[17]
See also
editNotes
editReferences
edit- ^ a b "About Us – Health Directorate". Indian Railways. Railway Board. Archived from the original on 12 September 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
- ^ Shreenesh, Raman (18 April 2013). "Facility for railway staff in dire straits". The New Indian Express. Tiruchy. Archived from the original on 12 September 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
- ^ Shreenesh, Raman (22 April 2013). "Hic! Here's the secret of patients in high spirits". The New Indian Express. Tiruchy. Archived from the original on 20 August 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
- ^ a b c d "About Medical Branch – Trichchirappalli Division" (PDF). Southern Railway zone. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
- ^ "Health Directorate". Indian Railways. Archived from the original on 12 September 2016. Retrieved 19 September 2016 – via Internet Archive.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "Facilities – Health Directorate". Indian Railways. Railway Board. Archived from the original on 12 September 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
- ^ "Organisation – Headquarters" (PDF). Southern Railway zone. pp. 1–2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 May 2012. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
- ^ "Trichy railway station food vendors briefed on hygiene, quality". The Times of India. Trichy. 2 September 2016. Archived from the original on 12 September 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
- ^ "Organisation Structure" (PDF). Southern Railway zone. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 April 2015. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
- ^ a b R. Rajaram (6 May 2014). "Ponmalai railway hospital to create database of diabetic patients". The Hindu. Tiruchi. Archived from the original on 12 September 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
- ^ Rajaram, R. (6 June 2012). "130 unmanned gates identified for closure in Tiruchi Division". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 12 September 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
- ^ "Jurisdiction map of the Division" (PDF). Southern Railway zone. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
- ^ "Southern Railway – Health Units" (PDF). Indian Railways. Railway Board. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 September 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
- ^ a b "Attendants' block opened at Railway Hospital". The Hindu. Tiruchi. 25 May 2010. Archived from the original on 12 September 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
- ^ "Kallakudi Palanganatham-Ariyalur railway line nearing completion". The Hindu. Tiruchi. 16 August 2013. Archived from the original on 12 September 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
- ^ "Railway staff honoured". The Hindu. Tiruchi. 5 July 2014. Archived from the original on 12 September 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
- ^ "New orthopaedic block opened at railway hospital". The Hindu. Tiruchi. 9 March 2013. Archived from the original on 12 September 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
Further reading
edit- J. S. N. Murthy (7 July 2015). "Spare the railway hospital system". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 17 September 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
External links
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