GUNTUR: In a major boost to Guntur Government General Hospital (GGH), the Guntur Medical College Alumni of North America (GMCANA) has come forward to construct two more blocks in the existing Dr Podila Prasad Super Speciality and Trauma Centre in the hospital premises with Rs 10 crore.
The centre is a gift from GMCANA, who are the alumni of Guntur Medical College, ably supported by a donation of Rs 5 crore by Venkat Prasad Podila, a gastroenterologist settled in the USA.
The facility was developed in 2014 in Public Private Partnership mode with the State government. It has taken six years to be completed and is the first major additional facility to GGH in several years.
In 2007, GMCANA signed an MoU with the State government for the construction of this facility and foundation stone was laid on December 3 in the same year. Regarding this, GMCANA’s former president Dr Tripuranaeni Ravi along with hospital superintendent Dr Kiran Kumar met MT Krishna Babu, Special Chief Secretary, State Health Medical and Family Welfare and discussed on the initiation of the project.
Dr Ravi said that the Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Block which is being constructed with Rs 8 crore by GMCANA is soon to be finished and the two extra blocks in Podila Prasad block will enable to increase the bed capacity and provide better medical services to the patients, he added.
As the patients at MCH have been suffering with the shortage of beds and lack of the latest facilities, the government has decided to construct a new building for the unit about eight years ago. The GMCANA has chipped in to provide 50 per cent of the total cost. Though the works started, due to various reasons, they were delayed. So GMCANA has decided to fund the project completely. A G+5 building with about 650 beds capacity with modern equipment and infrastructure will be set up at a cost of Rs 86.80 crore.