Trichy hospital gets infra development funds

Trichy hospital gets infra development funds

The super-speciality and trauma care block of the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital (MGMGH) here is set to receive medical equipment worth Rs 22 crore after the state government sanctioned more than half of the allotted funds.

The block was inaugurated almost a year ago, but it lacked equipment. Out of the total allotted funds of Rs 35 crore, Rs 21, 78, 66,400 was sanctioned for buying equipment.

"The director of medical education (DME) will deposit the amount to the personal deposit account of the Tamil Nadu medical service corporation (TNMSC). The fund will be utilised to equip the super-specialty hospital with the latest equipment," Dr P Karkuzhali, dean of MGMGH, told reporters here on Tuesday.

"The purchase of equipment will be completed in a phased manner, and it would take a couple of months to complete the process. The rest of the amount for the equipment will be sanctioned later," she added.

The six-storey super specialty block was one of the major projects under former chief minister J Jayalalithaa. However, the much-needed hospital was unable to serve the patients due to lack of equipment.

Interestingly, the fund for equipment was brought down to Rs 35 crore from the previously allotted amount of Rs 45 crore, after the cost of construction of the building escalated to Rs 65 crore from the estimated Rs 55 crore.

Specialty departments like neurosurgery, neurology, cardiology, cardiothoracic surgery, medical gastroenterology, surgical gastroenterology, pediatric surgery, plastic surgery, urology, nephrology, medical oncology and surgical oncology will get essential medical equipment. Besides these, anesthesia, radiology, pathology, biochemistry, microbiology, blood bank, telemedicine, medical education, modular operation theatre (trauma block) and steam laundry departments will also be equipped.

Anaesthesia department will receive equipment worth Rs 3.98 crore, the highest, while urology will receive Rs 2.98 crore. In addition, four aneasthesia work stations will be supplied. A modular operation theatre (OT) in the trauma block will receive equipment worth Rs 1.50 crore. The block has six OTs, but at present, only one is functional. The dean said the rest of the OTs would start functioning soon.