"SMCH Cath Lab to be operational again soon after halt for few days; Parts Dispatched and Engineers on Site" : Official

The cath lab in SMCH is not functioning and the pre-booked appointments are being canceled. This has raised concerns among the locals and they are fearing if the good days of accessing affordable treatment at the government facility is all but over. Some are even alleging if this being done to motivate local patients and their attendants towards the more expensive pritave propositions.

Senior officers in SMCH, however, insist that there is no reason to draw conclusions from speculations. A senior officer, Barak Bulletin spoke with informed that a critical part of the technology developed by Philips needs to be changed. The officer added that the part has been dispatched from Chennai and the engineers have already reached Silchar. While he did not reveal a deadline, he said, “The Cath Lab will be operational again very soon.”

It maybe mentioned that the Cath Lab at SMCH has been constructed by the Dutch conglomerate, Philips. A team of engineers and technicians from Philips Healthcare visited SMCH for a feasibility study and pitched an idea to the medical administration. The SMCH liked the idea and issued a non-objection certificate to Philips Healthcare for construction of the Cath Lab.

It is worth mentioning here that Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma inaugurated the Cath Lab at SMCH on January 22, 2022. An amount of Rs 5.39 crores was sanctioned for the Cath Lab and the construction began in the month of October, 2021.

After the inauguration, the first angiography was done by Rakesh P Gopal who as part of a special arrangement facilitated by medical administration visited SMCH as a consulting cardiologist.

Later Tirthankar Roy was appointed to work as an interventional cardiologist at SMCH through a notification issued by the Governor under regulation 17A of Medical and Health Recruitment Board (Amendment) for a period of four months with effect from the date of joining.

Interventional cardiology is a non-surgical option which uses a small, flexible tube called a catheter to repair damaged or weakened vessels, narrowed arteries, or other affected parts of the heart structure. An interventional cardiologist is a cardiologist with one to two years of additional education and training in diagnosing and treating cardiovascular disease as well as congenital (present at birth) and structural heart conditions through catheter-based procedures, such as angioplasty and stenting.

Earlier, patients in need of angioplasty were referred to Guwahati or Shillong. Hundreds have died in ambulance on the way to the state capital.