New Delhi: Municipal Corporation of Delhi will make a 50-bed facility at Balak Ram Hospital in Timarpur operational next month, with officials confirming that preparations are in the final stage. The new wing will cater to the gynaecology and paediatric departments.The hospital now runs its OPDs from both ground and first floors as well as the old building, providing services in dentistry, paediatrics, ENT, medicine, gynaecology, dermatology and ophthalmology. It also has a day care facility that functions between 9am and 4pm.“Since we already have the infrastructure, discussions were initiated to make the hospital functional in phases,” said an MCD official. With heavy footfall from north Delhi areas such as Timarpur and Chandrawal Nagar, the decision was taken to prioritise gynaecology and paediatrics. “There has been a consistent demand for a 24-hour facility in these sections,” the official explained.The hospital introduced a cardiology centre in 2023 in collaboration with Child Heart Foundation. It provides OPD and diagnostic services for free to children.The foundation stone of the project was laid in 2007, but construction began only in 2016. It was conceived as a 100-bed facility, but MCD later made it a 200-bed hospital. After multiple funds shortages, the complex was finally completed in 2020.Large portions of the eight-storey building, however, remain unused due to financial constraints and pending clearances, including the fire NOC. According to officials, they are waiting for the final nod to cut two trees at the entrance for the smooth passage of emergency vehicles. “The fire NOC will be issued only after this clearance,” an official said.In 2022, plans were floated to use Balak Ram Hospital as a satellite unit of Hindu Rao Hospital, but the plan has made no progress.
