National Burns Centre at Airoli comes up with fitness facility, play area for kids to put meaning into staff’s work-life balance
Dr Sangeeta Ravat, dean of KEM Hospital and psychiatrist Dr Anjali Chhabria at NBC’s new gym
The National Burns Centre at Airoli, Navi Mumbai, took a significant step towards upping its workforce’s mental health quotient, opening an on-site creche, play area for kids and a fitness facility over the weekend. The sprawling centre treats people with injuries from heat and flame and aims to try and give a near-normal functional life to the survivors.
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Several special invitees spoke prior to the ribbon cutting for the new facilities on a late Sunday morning when Airoli-Sector 13 had put its best face forward. Raindrops clung to the green everywhere and birds chirped within the verdant surroundings of the NBC. Several inauguration invitees commented on the resort-like surroundings that put the serene into Sunday morning.
Dr Sangeeta Ravat and Dr Sunil Keswani, medical director, NBC, in the play area. Pics/Sameer Markande
Said psychiatrist Dr Anjali Chhabria, invited to speak at the function, “When we have a burns incident, the person afflicted is not only physically scarred but mentally too.” The doctor talked about a young cousin who was a burns survivor. “She had to battle stigma, and acted difficult as that was her way of expressing herself,” she stated. Chhabria reiterated that with these initiatives, and pandemic-induced awareness, mental health is getting the space it deserves in the minds of the people, in planning, policies and programmes of government bodies and institutions.
Chief guest Dr Sangeeta Ravat, Dean of KEM Hospital said in her address, “This is a beautiful centre and the new initiatives are indicative of a holistic approach to healing. Treating burns patients is very challenging and delicate as they are extremely susceptible to infections. We must also remember that patients have to leave their families and live here at times for three to four months. I love the idea of a play area, if we had a little more space, I would like to start a play area for children at the KEM facility too.”
The National Burns Centre at Airoli’s Sector 13. Pics/Sameer Markande
Dr Sunil Keswani, medical director, NBC, stated that a big part of patient management is making new facilities available to them, but also factoring in healthcare workers. “In public hospitals especially, the ratio of nurse to patient is woefully short. I know of places where the ratio is one nurse to 60 patients. India cannot claim great strides in public health, no amount of instruments or apparatus can cut it if the skilled workforce is so inadequate.”
Open season
With points made and wisdom dispensed, it was time for the ribbon cutting. The colourful creche for children of employees was opened as applause rang out. “We have two ‘maaushis’ from anganwadis, to look after the kids,” explained Keswani. A play area was also opened adjacent to the creche, its colourful paint palette appealing to kids. “This is for employees’ children and the children who are being treated here, the burns survivors,” said Keswani smiling as some children who were in the facility jumped excitedly as they got a first look of the play area.
Psychiatrist Dr Anjali Chhabria (left), Dr Sangeeta Ravat, Dean of KEM Hospital, and Dr Sunil Keswani, medical director, NBC, at the play area
A gymnasium was also opened. Keswani said, “Employees often say they spend long hours here and have no time to go to a place to exercise. We are located in salubrious surroundings, but for many commuting is time-consuming, so they do not need to go to the gym, the gym has come to them!” As the ribbon was cut, Dr Chhabria and Ravat picked up the dumbbells at the facility, as those gathered cheered them on.
Keswani believes it is important to look at the workers’ happiness index too. “We have trainers at our gym. A fit person and a mind at ease, when we exercise our brain releases the feel-good hormones called endorphins, translates to a better workforce and consequently, improved healthcare,” he stated. The same thinking about putting the happy and holistic into healthcare had made Keswani oversee the opening of a butterfly park on the hospital campus a few years ago.
The new facilities became operational yesterday with the gym especially, putting a new spin into burns with a little humour. This Centre not only treats burns patients but is now a place where staffers, docs included, can burn calories, too.
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