KORAPUT: Patients suffering from kidney ailments can soon avail themselves of dialysis facility at the Saheed Laxman Nayak Medical College and Hospital ( SLNMCH ) here.Hospital authorities said work on the installation of dialysis machines was on and a trial run would be held soon."All the required infrastructure has been put in place. The machines are being installed. Once the installation work is complete, dialysis facility will be available for the patients," said collector ( Koraput ) K Sudarshan Chakravarthy.Officials said eight dialysis machines were installed at the hospital on the public-private-partnership (PPP) mode. Patients will be provided treatment free of cost."We hope that the dialysis unit will start functioning by the end of this month," said K B Subudhi, superintendent of SLNMCH in Koraput.Once it starts operating, the dialysis machines are expected to help a large number of patients who usually go either to Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh or hospitals in Berhampur and Bhubaneswar.Locals have welcomed the state government's move to start dialysis facility here."Owing to the absence of dialysis facility, patients here had to go to private hospitals. This increased the treatment cost manifold. Patients will gain a lot from the government's initiative," said Ajit Patra, a Koraput-based activist.It may be recalled that last month, a state-of-the art CT scan machine and a high-end pathology lab was inaugurated at the hospital.

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