Bangalore: The 70-year-old St. Philomena's Hospital has joined hands with Trinity Hospital and Heart Foundation to start St. Philomena Trinity Heart Centre, a dedicated 24-hour comprehensive cardiac care unit, which was inaugurated here on Saturday by Governor T.N. Chaturvedi.

Speaking after inaugurating the centre, Mr. Chaturvedi said Karnataka had advanced facilities, but in the public health sector there was still a lot of improvement to be done.

"Increasing attention has to be paid to the disadvantaged and deprived sections of society," he added. Mr. Chaturvedi said St. Philomena Hospital had great credibility in the field of healthcare and had been dedicated to all sections of society, including the poor.

D.H. Shankaramurthy, Minister for Higher Education, said a few years ago people from India used to travel abroad to get quality treatment as the facilities were not available in the country.

But now, India was known for its hi-tech medical care and expertise and patients from Australia and European countries were coming here for treatment.

V.S. Acharya, Minister for Medical Education, said medical institutions should give importance to both the preventive and curative aspects of treatment.

The cardiac care centre has a 36-bed medical intensive care unit and a neuro intensive care unit and coronary care unit with seven beds. The centre also has a free ward of 50 beds to provide cardiac care to poor patients.

B.G. Muralidhara, chairman and chief of cardiology, Trinity Hospital and Heart Foundation, said the centre would focus on the "golden hour" concept with thrust on giving emergency treatment to the patient within six hours of a heart attack.

The centre is equipped with Flat Panel Cath Lab, a colour doppler echo machine and other diagnostic equipment and has been established at a cost of Rs.15 crore.

Sr. Sicily, administrator of the hospital, was present .

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