The picture was taken during the Inauguration of the refurbished Department of Endodontics and Conservative Dentistry at the Christian Dental College. The Director and deputy Director of CMC, Principal of CDC and various members of faculty along with students and alumni were present.
The Inauguration took place during the Alumni meeting in October when the Dental College celebrated its 30th anniversary. A number of alumni from the UK were able to attend.
The last year has seen many changes, improvements and successes at CMCH. There has been the installation of an Oxygen generator. There have been renovations in many areas – Ward 17, Nursing College, Ward 25, the Examination Hall in the science block, Ross hostel, the reception area in the Dental College where 22 new dental chairs have also been installed, and the Medical Superintendent’s Office. The stairs leading up from the road to the Out patient block have been completely replaced. There is now a shop in the Ophthalmic Department where spectacles are sold. One new electrical substation is now functioning and they are urgently looking for further funding for the second substation. A new 40-bed ICU is currently under construction. A Rehabilitation Centre and a Clinical Simulation Laboratory have been developed. The Global Surgical Research Collaborative is highly praised and it is good to see CMCH playing such a central role in this initiative.
It is also good to report that the Medical College will now be accepting 100 students per year. The Dental College continues to provide excellent education and celebrated its 30th anniversary this year. Its training results are always high among the national figures.
So there are a lot of good things that have happened but it became apparent that there remain many problems with the clinical provision. In the hospital the bed occupancy remains at about 50% whereas virtually every other hospital in the city has an occupancy of between 70% and 95%. Footfall in the hospital has fallen, prescriptions are increasingly being dealt with outside the hospital and patients are attending other centres for various investigations and treatments.
In spite of this, there has been a small increase in Income compared to that of the previous two years. Total income to March 2022 was £17.66 million whereas expenditure was £15.88 million. There is an accumulated deficit of £8 million [reduced from £9.3 million last year]. CMCH still has £12.8 million in outstanding liabilities [bank loans, sundry creditors, patient loans, unpaid salaries]. [I have put these figures into £ sterling since Crores and Lakhs of Rupees will cause some confusion]
As you can see there are still some causes for concern but we do pray that CMCH, which has been a beacon for the Gospel and a provider of excellent healthcare in the Punjab for 128 years, will continue to re-emerge from the depths it seems to be in at present.
We are so grateful to those of our readers who support CMCH financially and in prayer. The institution needs that support now as much as ever!
We do hope that you all have a Happy Christmas and a blessed New Year
Dr Keith R Hine
One reply on “Chairman’s Christmas Letter 2022”
Merry Christmas and happy 2023 to you all!