KOZHIKODE: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday laid the foundation stone for Kerala Institute of Organ and Tissue Transplant hospital in Kozhikode. The ceremony was presided over by officials, including Health Minister Veena George and Public Works Minister Mohamed Riyas.
“Kerala has once again set a new model in healthcare by implementing the country’s first exclusive organ transplantation institute. This is Kerala’s most ideal model in the healthcare sector,” said the chief minister.
Organ transplantation surgeries have been increasingly becoming vital in the medical field and the cost of such surgeries in private hospitals is unaffordable. “The same surgery performed at this transplantation institute costs a third less than at major private hospitals and will be bearable to every common man. This institute tries to bring everyone under one umbrella without any inequality”, he added.
Located on the premises of Government Dermatology Hospital, Chevayur, the Rs 500 crore project is being funded by KIIFB, and is being implemented in two phases. In the first phase, it will have 16 operation theatres, ICU, HDU and dialysis centre. The second phase consists of 14 specialised divisions.
The institute aims to bring all organ transplant-related services under one roof and is projected to perform annually around 1,100 cornea transplants, 520 kidney transplants, 320 liver transplants, 50 heart transplants, 40 lung transplants, 120 bone marrow transplants, and several other complex procedures including intestinal, pancreas, and composite tissue transplants such as hands, fingers, face, and bones and the eight-storey facility will initially have 350 beds.
Designed as a centre of excellence, the institute will also function as a training and research hub for doctors and paramedical staff in transplantation medicine. Plans are in place to offer 31 academic courses related to transplantation and allied disciplines.
MP M K Raghavan, Kozhikode Mayor O Sadasivan, MLAs Thottathil Raveendran, Ahmed Devarkovil, and K K Rema, District Collector Snehil Kumar Singh, along with senior health officials and medical professionals, attended the foundation stone-laying ceremony.