Hospital at Omandurar Estate by December
With eight specialities and new state-of-the-art equipment, the public healthcare system in the State will get a fillip with the new 400 bedded multi-specialty hospital at the Omandurar Government Estate in Anna Salai getting fully functional by this December.
Officials said that the building, which was announced to be converted from a secretariat-assembly block to a multi-specialty hospital for the poor in August 2011, will have two blocks. Block A will house the hospital while block B would have the college. They said the hospital would offer all the advanced treatments and various facilities that are not available at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital.
Work to convert the building to hospital and patient friendly resumed in February this year following National Green Tribunal nod to go-ahead. The hospital will boast of 400 beds all air-conditioned with twin-sharing and triple sharing facilities, and 10-patient or general ward facilities. Modifications were being made to suit the needs of the hospital including 14 dedicated operation theatres, laboratories, CT Scan and MRI scans.
Provisions were also being given to provide oxygen and air to the wards with the central unit installed at a distance from the building and connecting the wards through pipelines.
The floors will be connected with ramps and the 15 lifts are being modified to accommodate stretchers and visitors, making the building patient friendly. An official said that the ramp connecting up to the second floor was complete and work was still continuing to reach up to the sixth floor.
Another highlight to the hospital will be the State-of-the-art equipment that was being imported, as officials said tenders were already floated by Tamil Nadu Medical Services Corporation for `75 crore to procure them. Officials added that the equipment would include the entire advanced oncology set up in addition to a separate room for radiation therapy and the medical and surgical division. They will be procured with suggestions from an expert team of doctors in Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital.
Installation of the equipment will begin by the end of November. Staff recruitment was also underway with doctors being employed on consultancy basis similar to that in the private sector.
There will be eight departments including cardio, cardio-thoracic, neuro, neuro surgery, hand surgery and vascular surgery.
Work to provide facilities for the college that would come up along with the hospital was also on. It will have a dedicated auditorium, library and laboratories, said officials.