PUDUCHERRY: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will dedicate to the nation the Karaikal Campus (including the medical college, hostels and residential complex) of Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER) and Multi-speciality Consulting Unit of JIPMER at Yanam, through video-conferencing Sunday 25th February.
Director JIPMER in a statement said that the Karaikal Campus of JIPMER was started in August 2016 in temporary buildings with an intake of 50 MBBS students annually.
Now the campus stands on a sprawling 67.33-acre land, generously allocated by the Government of Puducherry. The first phase, meticulously planned and executed, includes academic buildings, hostels for students and nurses, 154 residential units, and other essential amenities, all constructed at a sanctioned cost of Rs 491 crores.
With a futuristic approach, the campus boasts energy-efficient buildings, sewage treatment plants, rainwater harvesting facilities, solar power generation and energy efficient buildings with a 3-star GRIHA rating. The academic building for the medical college is 5-storeyed with a plinth area of 26,000 square metres and provision for an additional floor in future. It will house 24 departments.
The second phase will include construction of a 500-bed hospital at a cost of nearly Rs 450 crores, and work on it has been approved and will begin soon and should be completed in three years. This hospital will provide advanced healthcare services not only to people of the Karaikal region but also the neighbouring areas of Tamil Nadu.
Simultaneously, in Yanam, located at the mouth of the Godavari river into the Bay of Bengal, a Multi-speciality Consulting Unit is set to augment the existing health care facility of Government General Hospital. Built at a cost of Rs. 91 crores, the unit is strategically located to serve the medical needs of the region effectively.
Equipped with 90 beds, 20 ICU beds, and three operation theatres on 0.9 acre plot of land provided by Puducherry government, it promises comprehensive services in various specialties and super specialties, including high-risk obstetrics, surgery, orthopaedics, nephrology including a dialysis unit and non-interventional cardiology.
OPD, ultrasound and laboratory services have been initiated in December 2023 and other areas will start working soon as soon as more staff is recruited, stated the Director.