PM to open KIMS speciality hospital via video conference

Hubballi: The super specialty hospital on the premises of Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) is nearing completion and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate it digitally from Kalaburagi on March 6. The specialty hospital was constructed at a cost Rs 150 crore with the Centre contributing Rs120 crore and the state government Rs 30 crore.
KIMS director Dr Ramalingappa Antartani said 98% of the super-specialty hospital’s work has been completed. A few works like setting up operation theatres, installing medical gas supply, building a skywalk and drainage connection has to be completed and they will be done before the inauguration, he added.

The work was to be completed by February 2018 but was delayed by a year, he said. The building is being constructed on two acres adjacent to the existing KIMS building. It will have a total plinth area of is 17,060 square metres.

The super-specialty hospital will have eight departments and wards to accommodate 160 beds,a 40-bed intensive care unit (ICU) and outpatient departments. According to doctors at KIMS, a neurosurgery block with ICU, neurology department, an exclusive pediatric surgery block, surgical gastroenterology, urology, nephrology, medical oncology and plastic surgery departments will be established here.

Dr Antartani said the new hospital, which has been funded under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana, will be the first government hospital to have all kinds of super specialty units in North Karnataka. "Poor patients can get super-specialty treatment at the new hospital at a nominal price. New staff and paramedical staff will be appointed for the hospital. Around Rs 14 crore will be spent on purchasing of high-end equipment" he added.

Though the hospital will be inaugurated on March 6, it will take a few more months to be fully operational as class C and D workers including nursing staff have to be appointed, said sources.