MADURAI: The proposed upgradation of the Government Rajaji Hospital (GRH) at a cost of Rs 150 crore would come up on the Madurai Medical College grounds. A high-level committee consisting of Sandeep K Nayak, Central joint secretary for health and Dr C Vamsadhara, director of medical education, Tamil Nadu government stated this after conducting an inspection at the site selected for the new building on Tuesday.
Nayak said construction work for the super speciality hospital would commence in September. Both the Central and state governments have already allocated their share of Rs 125 crore and Rs 25 crore respectively. The final clearance from Prime Minister Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) under which the upgradation is planned, is expected to be obtained by the end of July.
"The architectural plan for the upcoming building has been prepared and kept ready. The construction work for the building would be started from the month of September after obtaining the nod from PMSSY. Once the construction is started it would take 18 months for its completion. Six months after that, the hospital would start functioning," Nayak said.
"The hospital building is coming up on four acres of land. The site has been identified as the Madurai Medical College ground which has 11 acres in total. The hospital would serve the people from southern districts to get super speciality treatment without travelling to Chennai or Bangalore," Dr Vamsadhara, said. Of the allocated Rs 150 crore, Rs 90 crore would be spent on building construction alone. Another Rs 35 crore would be spent on medical equipment and the remaining Rs 15 crore would be spent on other expenses.
Dr N Mohan, dean, Madurai Medical College and GRH said, "Specialities including urology, nephrology, neuro surgery, gastroenterology, medical gastroenterology, surgical gastroenterology and micro surgery would be available in the new building. The required number of doctors, staff nurses and multipurpose hospital employees is being worked out. The required strength would be obtained from the government."
The four-storeyed building will meet the green rating for integrated habitat assessment (GRIHA). Solar panels would be installed on the building to meet the power requirement for hot water and lighting the premises. Three or four star rating is expected from GRIHA, said Srhreekar, an architect who worked on the hospital design. A 300-ft length bridge connecting the existing GRH's extension building near Anna bus stand and the upcoming hospital would also be constructed. The bridge on the second floor would help transporting critical patients to intensive care unit and operation theatre in the new building, he added.
Source timesofindia
