MADURAI: Work to set up a temporary Rural Health Centre at Government Hospital for Thoracic Medicine (GHTM) in Thoppur for academic purposes of the Madurai AIIMS would commence in about six months, Executive Director for Madurai AIIMS Dr M Hanumantha Rao has told The New Indian Express.
The Rural Health Centre, similar to a Primary Health Centre, will most likely be in the Emergency Care and Recovery Centre (ECRC) building on the Thoppur GH premises, where a temporary project cell office for the AIIMS will also come up.
The decision to establish the project cell office at the ECRC building was taken after an initial proposal to turn the palliative care centre at Thoppur GH to the office drew flak from several quarters.
"The ECRC block is being temporarily given to the AIIMS team so they can soon renovate it to suit the requirements of the project cell office. Paperwork for all this has already begun," said Government Rajaji Hospital and GHTM Dean Dr A Rathinavel.
In a report dated February 5, The New Indian Express had highlighted the concerns raised over setting up the project cell office at the palliative care centre that housed terminally-ill patients and abandoned persons with mental illnesses.
Deputy Director (Administration) for Madurai AIIMS Lieutenant Colonel PVS Jamwal had visited Thoppur GH last Wednesday and Ramanathapuram Government Medical College Hospital the next day.
Later, Dr Hanumantha Rao told The New Indian Express, "The ECRC block spanning about 11,000 sq ft would house the temporary project cell office until the AIIMS construction is over. Steps are underway to refurbish the space for immediate occupation as the MBBS course classes are likely to start in mid-March. Then work for the Rural Health Centre will begin. It would serve as an outpatient clinic for academic purposes."
Interviews to hire eight faculty members begins on Monday
As per an official notification, interviews for posts of eight faculty members in Madurai AIIMS will be held online from Monday to Thursday. "An associate professor and an assistant professor each for Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry and Community Medicine will be recruited on a contract basis, and will have to start work at Ramanathapuram next month," Rao said.
In yet another development, an official notification dated February 19 invited applications for four posts at the project cell office