BENGALURU: The Union Government has granted in-principle approval for the construction of a 300-bed Post-Graduate Polytrauma Centre under the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) at Kyalasanahalli near Kempegowda International Airport (KIA), Bengaluru.
The facility, estimated to cost Rs 498 crore, is aimed at providing advanced emergency and trauma care to accident victims in and around the Bengaluru region.
The approval was issued by the Department of Expenditure under the Union Ministry of Finance, following a proposal submitted by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW). The land for the project, measuring 39 acres, had been allotted to NIMHANS in 2012-13, during the tenure of the BJP-led state government in Karnataka.
The proposed facility will serve as NIMHANS’ Northern Campus and will include not just the trauma hospital, but also residential quarters for staff, hostels, guest houses, administrative blocks, and other support infrastructure.
The Finance Ministry has laid down several conditions for the project. These include optimising manpower and infrastructure as recommended by NITI Aayog in its 2021 report, ensuring the trauma centre also caters to regular patients, and monitoring outputs and outcomes regularly for mid-course corrections. The ministry has also asked the Health Ministry to frame a long-term national policy for emergency and serious injury care.
The Centre will provide critical care for patients suffering from multiple and complex injuries, particularly head, brain, chest, abdomen, and skeletal trauma, during the crucial “Golden Hour.”
Project fulfills desire of K’taka people, says MP
With nearly 13–15% of deaths in India caused by road traffic accidents and up to 30% of accident victims suffering from polytrauma, the need for such a facility has long been considered urgent.
Cardiologist and Bengaluru Rural MP Dr CN Manjunath, who had written repeatedly to the Centre over the past year, said, “This project fulfills a long-standing desire of the people of Karnataka. The Polytrauma Centre at NIMHANS’ Northern Campus will ensure comprehensive emergency care under one roof and reduce deaths that happen during transit due to a lack of treatment.”
Dr Manjunath mentioned that many trauma patients, particularly from poor backgrounds, are unable to access affordable care and face delays due to the lack of specialised trauma facilities. “This will be only the second such Polytrauma Centre in India,” he said.
He said that although the Karnataka had allotted the land over a decade ago and the Governing Body of NIMHANS had cleared the proposal with multiple revisions, the project had remained stuck for 11 years. His repeated representations, including a letter to Union Health Minister JP Nadda along with the Detailed Project Report, are now bearing fruit with the central government’s nod, he said.