SPMCW hospital ready for inauguration

- President Ram Nath Kovind to inaugurate on Sept 2 but official confirmation is awaited
- 700-bed hospital building constructed with Rs 139.42 crore
- Hospital will have basic medical departments

Tirupati: The new hospital building of SVIMS-Sri Padmavathi Medical College for Women (SPMCW) is all set for inauguration. President Ram Nath Kovind during his first visit to the temple city after assuming office will inaugurate the building. The visit was tentatively scheduled for September 1 and 2. The new hospital will provide state of the art equipment for all departments to serve the patients.

Nagesh, Executive Engineer of the Andhra Pradesh Medical Services Infrastructure Development Corporation (APMSIDC), who executed the construction works, said that Rs 139.42 crore were spent for the new 700-bedded hospital building. The total built up area is 5.35 lakh square feet. It is having seven floors including cellar and ground floors. The new hospital will have all basic departments. Most advanced equipment will be installed for the benefit of the patients. For instance, in Paediatrics wing, neo-natal intensive care unit with baby warmers, incubators and advanced cardiac monitors were provided. Similarly, the hospital will have latest ventilators and multi-channel monitors. It will have 15 Operation Theatres (OTs) of which 10 are modular OTs. The other five OTs will start functioning immediately after inauguration of the hospital said SPMCW Principal Dr M Hanumantha Rao.

Speaking to The Hans India, he said, the Director-cum-Vice-Chancellor Dr TS Ravi Kumar has laid special focus in getting funds from the government for the hospital. With his efforts Rs 48 crore were sanctioned for equipment and furniture at the 700-bedded hospital. To a question, he said the new hospital will cater the needs of more patients. For instance, there is lot of demand for services and beds in Obstetrics and Gynaecology. With the opening of this hospital, the pressure on the government hospitals can be decongested as it will have 90 beds, besides providing full time services with dedicated staff. The hospital was divided into four blocks. While the cellar in the first two blocks was allotted to Radiology department which will have MRI, CT scan, X-ray and others, and the third block cellar will have mechanized laundry and parking. Similarly, the fourth block cellar will have parking for 43 cars and around 150 two-wheelers. Various other wings, OTs, pre-and post-operative wards and general wards wereallotted to various floors of all blocks.

This hospital was constructed as a pre-requisite for the Medical College according to Medical Council of India norms, which the government established in 2014 exclusively for women under the aegis of Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences (SVIMS) in 2014. Till now, the hospital was housed in the 200-bedded Institute of Pregnant Women (IPW) building attached to SV Medical College. The government issued a GO formally handing over IPW building to SVIMS for two years till the construction of new building is completed. It took more time than expected to complete it as unexpected snags developed in setting up the sewage and drinking water supply system. As all the works were completed, the SVIMS authorities have vacated the IPW building and handed it over to the District Medical and Health Officer for further action.

V Pradeep Kumar