NIT-R hospital set to  focus on medical tech

ROURKELA:  AFTER the Union Health Ministry granted permission to National Institute of Technology-Rourkela (NIT-R) to set up its medical college and hospital (MCH), the move is seen as a unique development in advance medical research with integration of man, machine and technology.NIT-R Director Prof Animesh Biswas claimed that NIT-R would be the first in the NIT system and second after the IIT-Kharagpur (IIT-KGP) to have an MCH. Apart from extending advanced healthcare to the people of this region, the proposed facility would additionally play significant role in advanced medical research with the institute already having bio-medical engineering and medical life sciences wings, he added.

The Union Health Ministry's letter informing about granting permission to NIT-R for MCH reached on Thursday. The RSP-run Ispat General Hospital (IGH) is also working on a project to upgrade the IGH into Super Specialty Hospital and Medical College (SSHMC). But the IGH project is getting delayed despite official announcement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in April 2015 in this regard.

Prof Biswas said the IGH has altogether a different concept. The focus of NIT-R, on the other hand, would be both on medical research and healthcare which would be unique for higher technical institutes. Renowned cardiologist Dr Nandkishore Panigrahi of Appolo Hospitals, Visakhapatnam, who is a regular visitor to Rourkela, was among the first to support NIT-R for getting MCH. 

He said NIT-R enjoys huge advantage with robust research protocol and strong academic facilities. Unlike NIT-R, hardly any engineering institute in India has medical life sciences department. India needs integrated multi-disciplinary department in medical science for better research activities. The IIT-BHU, Varanasi has a medical school on the same campus, but there is no integration between engineering and medical sciences. With robust research protocol, NIT-R would be in a unique position to pursue human-centric research with integration of man, machine and technology for the benefit the humankind and build a brand image, the Director added. 

Dr Panigrahi said most of the US universities are into multi-disciplinary advanced research activities, but higher institutions in India are lacking in the field of research environment. The IGH has good medical infrastructure and if attached, the NIT-R may not require hospital for the initial 2-3 years and later it could set up its own hospital, he added.