TN health dept to set up 750-bed multi-specialty hospital in Chennai: Minister

Chennai, June 22 (IANS) Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian said on Sunday that the state government is set to establish a state-of-the-art 750-bed multispecialty paediatric hospital at the King Institute of Preventive Medicine and Research campus in Guindy.

The new facility will be developed on six acres of land and will be attached to a postgraduate and super-specialty paediatric institute under the Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medical University.

Once completed, it will become the third major healthcare institution on the Guindy campus, following the Kalaignar Centenary Super-speciality Hospital and the National Institute of Ageing.

The state government has allocated Rs 487.66 crore for the project, which will include a seven-storey hospital complex covering 3.15 lakh square feet.

In addition to the main hospital building, the project will feature hostels for doctors, nurses, medical students, and professors, along with advanced medical equipment and infrastructure.

"This is the highest allocation made for any hospital project in Tamil Nadu till now," said Minister Subramanian during his visit to the site, accompanied by senior health officials, including Health Secretary P. Senthilkumar.

Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has given his approval for the project, and tenders will be floated shortly.

The construction of the new hospital is expected to commence by September this year.

The institute will be fully funded and operated by the Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medical University.

The upcoming paediatric hospital will be equipped with 100 intensive care unit (ICU) beds, pay wards, shared wards, and suite rooms.

According to University Vice-Chancellor K. Narayanasamy, the hospital will house 20 departments, including 14 unique specialties.

These will include general medicine, critical care, surgery, gastroenterology, orthopaedics, neurology, nephrology, pulmonology, cardiology, urology, hemato-oncology, neurosurgery, plastic surgery, and an organ transplant unit.

Narayanasamy added that the institute will offer postgraduate super-specialty courses in paediatrics after its establishment.

It aims to function as a centre of excellence, particularly for rare paediatric diseases, and will focus on bridging the gap between academic training and real-world healthcare delivery, he said.

The new paediatric institute is also expected to bolster the university's academic standing and aid in participation in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), enhancing Tamil Nadu's reputation in medical education and research.

--IANS

aal/khz