Rotary Amruth Human Milk Bank at the Government Lady Goschen Hospital was inaugurated on Saturday in Mangalore.
The project was initially proposed to Rotary by Dr UV Shenoy, consultant paediatrician of government Wenlock Hospital. Dr Shenoy convinced the Rotary Cl to take up this lifesaving project.
The project cost is around 35 lakh and the funding is done through The Rotary Club Global Grant of the Rotary Foundation and supported by Rotary District 3181 and foreign partners RI district 6540, RI district 6600, Rotary Club of Kentland and New Tampa Noon Rotary Club, all from the USA.
Dr B Shantharam Baliga, consultant paediatrician, is responsible for setting up the NICU unit at Lady Goschen Hospital, has guided the project manager and team till its implementation. The Human Milk Bank staff are trained by Dr Sreenath Manikanti of Amara Milk Bank, Bengaluru, in operating procedures and controls.
The installation of the equipment and initial technical and operations training was done by the vendor on February 16 and 17, testing and the soft launch were done by Thursday. Rotary Amruth will initially focus on meeting the needs of needy babies of the Lady Goschen Hospital first, before serving others. The hospital caters to ‘High Risk’ pregnancy cases pertaining to not only our district but also the surrounding six-seven districts. Nearly 7,000 deliveries take place each year and of which, 70% are ‘high’ and ‘very high risk’ pregnancies.
Rotary District Governor AR Ravindra Bhat was inaugurated in the presence of MLAs Vedavyas Kamath, Dr Bharath Shetty, DC, medical superintendent, Sudhir Jalan, president, Rotary Club of Mangaluru, and others. Deputy commissioner KV Rajendra, medical superintendent Dr Durgaprasad and RMO Dr Balakrishna of the hospital have extended their cooperation to this project.
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