Govt. hospitals to receive facelift

Special treatment for old govt hospitals
Hospitals in the city will see repair and construction activities to be undertaken by the Government, to provide more facilities.
Deccan Herald

At 102 years the Victoria hospital in the city is about to get a new lease of life. Following directions from Minister for Public Works and Energy H D Revanna on Monday, several old government hospitals in the city are all set to get a facelift.

A 11-member committee will prepare a master plan to undertake repair and construction works at the Victoria, Vani Vilas and Minto Eye hospitals and the Government Nursing College in the city, Mr Revanna said.

The committee comprising heads of various civic agencies and hospital managements will also prepare the estimate of the project.

On his visit to the Victoria hospital, Mr Revanna briefed reporters on the Government’s plans to increase the capacity of the hospital from the existing 764 beds to 1,000. To facilitate this, the Public Works Department has taken up construction of an eight-storied building in the hospital premises that will house operation theatres, labs and out-patient wards.

The estimated cost of the building is Rs eight crore. However, owing to financial crunch, funds would be raised with private partnership. The Infosys Foundation has released Rs 2.5 crore for the construction of a hi-tech diagnostic lab at the hospital. The old nursing quarters would be demolished and a new one would be constructed in its place for both doctors and nursing staff.

Mr Revanna directed the authorities to construct a two-lane road in the Victoria hospital premises to connect it with the Vani Vilas hospital. He also instructed the BMP to take up construction of two public toilets inside the Victoria hospital.
Augmentation of the emergency block and the Sirur block, renovation of the Urology department of the hospital are also in the pipeline, he said.