Care centre for homeless, mentally ill to come up at Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital

Coimbatore: As part of a state-wide initiative to support the mentally ill and destitute people, the Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) would soon establish an emergency care and recovery centre on its premises.

"The centre will have 15 beds. Through this facility, we aim to provide focused care for many homeless people. Counselling and treatment will be offered to improve both their mental and physical well-being," said CMCH dean Dr A Nirmala.

Currently, an emergency care and recovery centre for women is functioning at Mettupalayam with the support of Helping Hearts, an NGO. "The new centre at CMCH will be designed to accommodate men. We plan to collaborate with the same NGO, as it has extensive experience in rescuing, counselling and caring for the mentally ill and homeless individuals. The patients will be housed at the centre until they recover," she said.