Kalaburagi ESIC Super Speciality Hospital Set to Start Functioning by Month-end
KALABURAGI: Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) is all set to start a super specialty hospital in Kalaburagi by the end of December in compliance with the norms of the Medical Council of India.
“All basic infrastructure, except power and water, are ready. Once we get these essentials, we will announce the date of inauguration,” said ESIC Medical College principal Dr Chandrashekhar.
He told Express that MCI had given ESIC permission to hold admissions for the third batch of first year MBBS students in the last week of September if they started their own hospital in three months.
He said that President Pranab Mukherjee will be in Kalaburagi on December 22 to participate in the convocation of the Central University, Karnataka and the venue for the convocation is the ESIC Medical College auditorium. “We want to utilise the opportunity and are planning to request the President to inaugurate the hospital,” he added.
The construction of ESIC Medical Complex has almost been completed and the building of super specialty hospital is ready. Most of the equipment required for the hospital has also been installed. ESIC is inviting tenders to procure radiology equipment within a few days. “We need about `1 crore to procure this equipment,” Dr Chandrashekar said.
“To run the super specialty hospital, we need additional 5 Mega Watt power and for this we have deposited `3.5 crore with GESCOM and KPTCL. They have promised to provide this within a week. The hospital needs 10 lakh litres of water per day on permanent basis. The Water Supply Board, on temporary basis is making arrangements to provide three lakh litres per day and it will be functional within a few days. The work of laying a pipeline to provide 10 lakh litres of water is under progress,” he said.
ESIC has already appointed 200 doctors, including 24 specialists in surgery, 24 in medicine and 12 in gynaecology and they are working at ESIC Medical College and at the District Government Hospital which is attached to ESIC Medical College.
Once the ESIC Super Specialty Hospital becomes functional, their services will be withdrawn from the District Government Hospital and they will work at ESIC Super Specialty Hospital.
47,210 Insured Persons (IPs) of Bidar, Kalaburagi, Vijayapura, Bagalkot, Bellary and Koppal districts (employees and employers registered with ESIC), will get treatment free of cost in this hospital.
Dr Chandrashekhar said he has written to the Director General of ESIC seeking formal permission to treat the general public also in this hospital by charging as per the norms being followed in the District Government Hospital.
“We are excepting permission from the DG as the ESIC Act has already been amended whereby ESIC Hospitals can treat the general public if the number of IPs is less than required strength,” Dr Chandrashekhar said.