A spacious eight-storey building will soon house as many as 23 outpatient departments at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH).
On an average, the hospital receives 12,000 outpatients every day and as the outpatient block has insufficient space it remains overcrowded.
“The old outpatient building was congested as it was a single-storey structure. The objective of constructing a new building was to ease the congestion and do away with discomfort for patients. When it is completed, it will be one of the largest outpatient services in the government sector in the city,” a hospital authority said.
Work on the new building commenced in August 2016. Initially, it was planned to have four floors for which the State government sanctioned ₹58.65 crore.
“Originally, the government planned to have a basement, ground floor and four floors spread on an area of 2.68 lakh square feet. Recently, an order was issued approving additional four floors. So, there will be an additional space of 1.64 lakh sq. ft. Another ₹42.8 crore has been sanctioned for the work,” the official said.
Presently, construction work on the fifth floor is under progress. The basement will serve as a car parking for hospital employees including doctors and faculty members. The building will a host of amenities for the outpatients including ramps for the physically challenged persons, four bed-cum-passenger lifts and four passenger lifts.
“As of now, the outpatient departments are functioning in the old Madras Medical College buildings. Once this new building is completed, it will house all outpatient departments including urology, radiology and orthopaedics under one roof,” the official said.
There are plans to establish quarters for students on Compulsory Rotatory Residential Internship (house surgeons) on the seventh floor. A multi-purpose hall and canteen for doctors have also been planned. The construction work is likely to be completed by July 2019.