ICUs, HDUs to be set up across wards in major upgrade ‘to ensure critically ill patients receive immediate intervention’
Srinagar: In a major overhaul of its patient care system, the Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) on Thursday announced a plan to decentralise critical care by establishing Intensive Care Units (ICUs) and High Dependency Units (HDUs) across wards, ensuring critically ill patients receive immediate intervention without delays caused by transfers.
The decision, announced by Director Dr Mohammad Ashraf Ganie during an interaction with faculty and media, is part of a broader infrastructure upgrade at the institute, which includes equipping around 40 wards with life-saving devices and expanding diagnostic services to every floor.
Dr Ganie, as reported by the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), said the initiative aims to ensure that critically ill patients receive immediate intervention within their wards. “Each ward will be equipped with a small ICU or HDU so that patients who turn critical can be managed promptly without shifting them elsewhere,” he said.
To support the rollout, SKIMS has procured essential critical care equipment, including ventilators, infusion pumps, defibrillators, and patient monitors. The installation will be carried out in phases.
Other key additions include a portable isolation unit for kidney transplant patients, advanced neonatal care equipment, and a hemodiafiltration machine for nephrology services. Surgical departments, including neurosurgery and plastic surgery, have been upgraded with advanced operative systems, while a 3D 4K visualisation platform has been installed to support complex procedures such as transplants and minimally invasive surgeries.
Critical care and anaesthesia units have also been strengthened with fibre optic bronchoscopes, while cardiovascular and thoracic surgery services have received ultra-high-definition imaging systems—(KNO)
