Hyderabad: Developing world-class infrastructure in tertiary care hospitals has been a major focus area for the Telangana government, and consistent allocation of funds in last six years has helped public healthcare facilities now boast of better equipment and availability of manpower.
Between 2014 and 2020, the State government has spent approximately Rs 677.42 crore towards procuring diagnostic medical equipment, furniture for government hospitals and for financially supporting the showpiece initiative of KCR Kits across the State.
In the last 24 months or so, the focus of the State government funding has been to develop high-end diagnostic facilities at Gandhi Hospital, NIMS, Institute of Preventive Medicine (IPM), Fever Hospital, and TIMS besides setting up Mother and Child Health (MCH) centres at Sultanbazaar and Petlaburj maternity hospitals, Niloufer Mother and Child Care facility, new cancer block for MNJ Cancer Hospital, and upgrading ICUs and setting up modular operation theatres at Gandhi Hospital and NIMS.
Gandhi Hospital
Before the Covid-19 pandemic hit Telangana, Gandhi Hospital had witnessed a major infrastructure development and in fact, the State government was poised to start the construction of a special MCH facility and setting up of organ transplantation and liver care facilities.
A centralised laboratory that was meant for inpatients and outpatients, established at a cost of Rs 50 lakh, was converted into a Covid-19 laboratory. A state-of-the-art 50-bed casualty wing has come up, which is being partially put to use by the hospital management.
In the coming years, the State government is planning to construct an organ transplantation hub at a cost of Rs 50 crore. Authorities will also take up the construction of a 200-bed MCH facility with Rs 30 crore. An exclusive orthopaedic wing for high-end surgeries and an organ transplantation hub featuring six to eight modular theatres are slated to come up in the next few years.
T-Diagnostics
To ensure poor patients have access to high-end diagnostic services in government hospitals, the State government has introduced T-Diagnostic initiative. The hub-and-spoke model of T-Diagnostics comprises of a central laboratory (hub) connected to primary and community healthcare centres. A central laboratory is already functional at Institute of Preventive Medicine (IPM), Narayanguda, and nearly 17 more such diagnostic hubs are expected to come up.
Development of new high-end laboratories at four teaching hospitals in districts and 13 more facilities in district hospitals (DHs) with over Rs 30 crore is already underway.
TIMS
At the sports village near the Gachibowli stadium, the State government developed the Telangana Institute of Medical Sciences (TIMS) on the lines of PGI-Chandigarh offering high-end tertiary healthcare and research facilities.
The manpower recruitment, which includes close to 650 clinical and non-clinical staff for the new centre, has been completed recently. The hospital has 1,224 beds of which 1,000 have oxygen supply and 50 have ventilator support. Furnishing work on all the 15 floors is complete and the hospital is ready for occupation.
Investment in Mother and Child Care (MCH)
The State government has taken several initiatives to improve healthcare services centred on mother and child health. Following the launch of KCR Kits, health authorities have also launched a massive exercise to either upgrade existing MCH facilities or create new ones in the State.
Since the formation of State, Telangana has spent nearly Rs 155 crore to develop speciality MCH centres. As part of it, authorities have developed nine MCH facilities of 150 beds capacity in the State with Rs 132.13 crore. Under various stages of development are four new MCH facilities of 50 beds capacity with Rs 2.36 crore and eight more MCH facilities of 100 beds capacity with Rs 20 crore.
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