HYDERABAD: Thirteen years ago, the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh government had decided to construct a 750-bed general hospital with an attached medical college in Erragadda, where the present Government TB and Chest Hospital stands.
As the shortage of manpower and beds stings Telangana amid the COVID-19 pandemic, many people from the city rue that the plan did not come to fruition. Presently the Government TB and Chest hospital is serving COVID-19 patients with a provision for around 177 Covid beds with oxygen facility.
It was way back in 2008 when the then Chief Minister, YS Rajasekhara Reddy, approved the proposal to construct the 750-bed general hospital in Erragadda - aimed at providing tertiary medical care to people from various areas located towards the west of Hyderabad and surrounding areas including Kukatpally and Gachibowli.
However, even though official orders were passed for the construction of the new hospital, the plan never materialised. Indian Medical Association (IMA) Telangana vice-president Dr Sanjeev Singh Yadav, points out that the plan to construct a general hospital at Erragadda is actually much older than 2008.
Dr Yadav said, "The plan of constructing a general hospital at Erragadda was envisaged much before 2008. It was also under consideration during Chandrababu Naidu's rule. There were plans of having a tertiary care hospital in the centre of Hyderabad and four around the city. If the hospital at Erragadda would have been constructed, it would have proven a great help now. It would have been better than the Telangana Institute of Medical Sciences (TIMS) at Gachibowli."