Press Release NARAYANA SUPERSPECIALITY HOSPITAL LAUNCHES TRANSFUSION SERVICES ~ Sets up Howrah’s first private blood bank ~ Howrah, September 22, 2016: Narayana Superspeciality Hospital, one of the leading tertiary care facility in Eastern India today announced the launch of Transfusion Services at the hospital and Howrah’s first private blood bank. The blood bank which is located inside the hospital premises was inaugurated by Shri Arup Roy, Minister, Department of Cooperation, West Bengal Government, along with Shri Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Minister of State, Department Of Sports & Youth Affairs, West Bengal Government and Shri Sumit Kumar, IPS, Deputy Commissioner Traffic, Howrah City Police in presence of Dr Emmanuel Rupert, Chief of Medical Services, Narayana Health, R Venkatesh, Zonal Director (East), Narayana Health and Akshay Oleti, Facility Director, Narayana Superspeciality Hospital, Howrah. R Venkatesh, Zonal Director (East), Narayana Health said, “Narayana Superspeciality Hospital offers comprehensive Cancer Care with organ specific treatment in addition to Cardiac Sciences facilities and various other tertiary care specialties, all of which requires huge support of services from the Transfusion Medicine and blood bank department during the treatment course of surgeries or other procedures. “ Housed under the Department of Transfusion Medicine, the blood bank is equipped with the latest equipments and state-of-the art technology that will be functional round the clock. It has facilities of blood donation, component separation, testing, storage and issue, and can store blood components from around 300 blood donations every month. Dr Emmanuel Rupert, Chief of Medical Services, Narayana Health said, “We are proud to say that we are perhaps the only blood bank in the entire district using the enhanced chemiluminescence technology in the screening of transfusion transmitted infections like HIV, Hepatitis etc. and column agglutination technology for immune-haematology testing which essentially helps in automation and standardisation thus improves the sensitivity and reproducibility of tests” The transfusion services within the hospital will help patients in arranging blood replacement faster and in acute blood loss situations it can be life-saving. These services will not only benefit patients admitted to Narayana Superspeciality Hospital but also other hospitals in Howrah who can avail of these facilities by providing voluntary replacement blood donors. Akshay Oleti, Facility Director, Narayana Superspeciality Hospital, Howrah said, “With the launch of this blood bank we are aiming at providing safe blood based on 100% voluntary donation by organizing regular camps at our hospital. The blood bank is licensed for red cell concentrates, fresh frozen plasma, platelet concentrates etc and at a time when dengue is widespread in the State, the blood bank can help alleviate shortage of platelets.” About Narayana Health: With all super-speciality tertiary care facilities that the medical world offers, Narayana Health is now a one-stop healthcare destination for all. From the first facility established in Bengaluru with approximately 225 operational beds in 2000, our Company has grown to 54 facilities (which includes 53 facilities in India and 1 facility in the Cayman Islands operated by our Company's associate company, Health City Cayman Islands Ltd.) with 5300 operational beds with a potential to reach over 6600 beds. Our Company has a network of 23 hospitals (multispeciality and superspeciality healthcare facilities which provide tertiary care services), 7 heart centres (superspeciality units which are set up in a third party hospital) and 23 primary care facilities (including clinics and information centres), across a total of 18 cities in India. (For details, visit www.narayanahealth.org) About Narayana Superspeciality Hospital, Howrah Apart from comprehensive cancer care covering medical, radiation and surgical oncology, the unit offers tertiary care services in more than 40 specialities, which includes Cardiac Sciences, Neurosciences, Gynaecology, Orthopaedics, Urology as well as Medical and Surgical Gastroenterology. Built as per FGI standards (Facility Guidelines Institute), USA, the hospital has a Centre of Excellence for Comprehensive Cancer Care and is well- equipped to handle medical emergencies and trauma round the clock. About Narayana Health Network, Kolkata: Narayana Health now serves the people of Kolkata through its chain of 8 network hospitals & clinics in the city located at Mukundapur (EM Bypass), Salt Lake, Howrah, Hiland Park, Lansdowne and Barasat. Narayana Health’s unparalleled heart network in Kolkata comprises of six Cath Labs across the city and 43 Cardiac Consultants with emergency specialists working round the clock to ensure health for all. .