600-bed facility coming up at Chacha Nehru Bal Chikitsalay in Delhi

Dr Urmila Jhamb, the director, of CNBC, told TOI "We will increase the facilities over time. The expansion of departments and beds are in the pipeline. The initial focus is on a huge pediatric ICU and cardiothoracic surgery, which are the need of the hour. Most children with congenital issues find it difficult to get admission in other government hospitals."

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"Trauma care services and neurosurgery have also been planned. The new building with 600 beds will allow for huge expansion. Out of these, 50-60 beds will be reserved for ICU and another 50-60 for NICU. We are also upgrading radiology services and ventilators. We have procured ECO and digital X-ray machines and are working towards purchasing a CT-MRI machine. Our current bed strength is 250. We are increasing the academic seats from four pediatric MD seats to 10, apart from two MCH surgery seats," said Jhamb.

"Our OPDs mostly see cases of diarrhoea, upper respiratory problems, skin issues and fever. Admissions are usually done for heart-related problems and congenital abnormalities. We have pediatric ophthalmology, a dedicated ENT, orthopaedics and a reasonably large department of pediatric surgeries. Neonatal surgeries are not carried out elsewhere, so we see many patients at our facility," Jhamb said.