THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:Health Minister V S Sivakumar hassaid that the revamped Kerala Health Research and Welfare Society (KHRWS) deluxe pay ward at the Sree Avittom Thirunal (SAT) Hospital here will be opened to the public on September 29.
“The deluxe pay ward, refurbished at a cost of Rs 90 lakh, will now constitute 43 single rooms, including seven air-conditioned and 36 non air-conditioned rooms,” the minister said.
Apart from the deluxe ward, KHRWS’s new pay ward with 42 non air-conditioned rooms was also already functional at the SAT Hospital, Sivakumar said.
The minister said the pay ward working under the hospital had only eight single rooms and four double rooms and therefore, the patients have been relying on KHRWS’ pay wards. The renovation of the deluxe pay ward will come as a relief to many, he noted.
The renovated pay ward will be inaugurated by him on Tuesday in the presence of M A Wahid MLA and other dignitaries. Meanwhile, Sivakumar also said that Rs 2.75 crore has been spent to upgrade the basic facilities of the Government Siddha Hospital at Vallakadavu here. The hospital would be upgraded to hold 50 more beds by demolishing the existing hospital building and constructing a new 842 metre square three-storied building in its place.
Opened as the first Siddha dispensary in the state in 1968, the health centre was upgraded to a hospital with 20 beds on October 20, 2014. Around 70,000 patients including those from the coastal regions were treated in the hospital last year, according to the Health Ministry. There are eight government dispensaries and 28 NHM dispensaries in Kerala for Siddha medicine. The minister also said that through the newly formed AYUSH department, Siddha medicine practice could be expanded.Sivakumar will inaugurate the construction of the new building on September 28, Mayor K Chandrika and Shashi Tharoor MP will be present at the occasion.