Patients at AIIMS to get waiting lounge

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi is set to construct a waiting lounge for patients and their attendants on the lines of traveller lounges at India’s airports, people aware of the matter said on Wednesday, adding that the move will be a first for a public health facility in the country.
As part of the proposal, the premier Centre-run hospital last week signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Airport Authority of India (AAI), that will construct the lounge under its corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme, the people said.
“AAI will build the lounge for us underneath a parking lot, and they have assured us that it will meet international standards like lounges at airports. It will be built under their CSR programme,” said Dr Rima Dada, media and communications in-charge, AIIMS-Delhi.
The facility will come up near the South Extension exit gate, opposite the teaching block of the main AIIMS campus. The lounge is expected to be ready in the next three months.
According to the proposal, the lounge will have a seating capacity of 500 people, and a floating crowd capacity of at least 5,000. The facility will have washrooms, bathing areas, food vending machines, and ready-to-eat cooked meals for people who need to wait for long hours in the hospital.
People using the lounge will not have to pay for waiting, while the food will be available at nominal rates, hospital authorities said.
“In addition, we have two other waiting halls coming up under CSR initiatives. One is from the Rural Electrical Corporation, which will have a ground+2 storey structure with a seating capacity of 2,000. This is above the existing underground parking lot. The other one is from NTPC, which is near the mother-and-child OPD that will have ground+1 structure with a seating capacity of 1,500,” Dr Dada said.
For internal transport within the hospital campus, AIIMS has proposed using 14 electric buses that will have designated stops. “This will help patients and their caregivers as moving around in a campus that is spread across 200 acres can be a task,” Dr Dada said, adding that payment for this service will be entirely cashless.
AIIMS also plans to start transport facilities from ISBTs and railway stations for the convenience of patients and their attendants, and expand the ferrying facility being currently offered within the campus to nearby Metro stations and bus stops.
“There will be electric buses stationed at all major bus stations and railway stations to ferry AIIMS patients and their attendants and also to take them back. The director has issued an office memorandum in this regard and soon, tendering will be done to identify a company that will be given the responsibility to manage operations smoothly,” said Dr Dada, adding that they will charge a nominal fee for the service.