T'puram: The new state-of-the-art 14-storey building of the Regional Cancer Centre (RCC) is set to open in March 2025. The facility has been grappling with issues of space constraints and a lack of basic infrastructure facilities as the number of outpatients and inpatients has increased in recent years. With the Rs 187cr building coming up close to the existing building, RCC will get 600 beds, five brand new operation theatres, and associated ICUs and wards.
"The contractor of the building informed me that the new building will be handed over in March next year. All the works are nearing completion. In this new facility, an extra 250 beds will be readied. Beds in the medical oncology department will be shifted to the new building by adding 5-10 beds. However, the main OP block will remain in the existing E-block. The new block will also have a new blood bank while the microbiology department, simulators and radiation equipment will also be shifted," said RCC director Dr Rekha Nair.
The building construction began in 2018. However, it was delayed due to Covid and funding issues. The new building will also have radiotherapy machines, a radioiodine therapy ward, nuclear medicine avenues, a bone marrow transplant unit, a leukaemia ward, and others. The building will utilise solar energy for its day-to-day operations. Also, it will follow a green protocol. Pollution control mechanisms, including biogas plants, will also be set up.
RCC authorities had expressed the grievance that heavy inflow of patients, coupled with space constraints and lack of manpower, was taking a toll on them. The centre said that it was high time the two other cancer care centres in the state — Malabar Cancer Centre (MCC) in Kannur and Cochin Cancer Research Centre (CCRC) in Ernakulam — were raised to RCC's standard.
RCC is currently operating on a six-acre campus whereas the MCC is spread across a sprawling 24-acre campus. According to Dr Rekha, an average of 900 to 1,000 patients, including those from neighbouring Tamil Nadu, make use of the hospital daily. There is no adequate manpower to care for these patients.
A robotic surgery unit is functional in the RCC for the first time in a govt sector hospital. It was opened in Jan 2024 and was available only in large hospitals in the country and abroad.