The Regional Cancer Centre (RCC) at the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH) is getting ready for inaugural this month.
It would take about six more months for the Rs.-20 crore facility to function.It will be the first facility of its kind in the government sector in Western Tamil Nadu.
Hospital dean A. Edwin Joe said that the construction has been competed. Efforts were on to get it inaugurated along with the centenary building of the hospital.
He said that last year around 500 cancer patients were treated by the hospital and that the new building will help treat more patients with state of the art equipment.
The oncology department in CMCH was started in the 1970.
It started functioning with radio therapy. Cobalt therapy was introduced in 2004.
Comprehensive cancer care was introduced in 2013.
The RCC here was announced in 2012. Construction of the centre began in 2013.
Head of the Surgical Oncology and Regional Cancer Center at CMCH A. Suresh Venkatachalam said that the new building has 20 beds each for surgical oncology and medical oncology.
Radiation oncology will continue functioning in the existing oncology department building.
“The department was sharing the general operation theatre and intensive care units. RCC will have two state-of-the-art laparoscopy operation theatres and intensive care unit,” Dr. Suresh said.
Facilities
He added that RCC will also have a Linear Accelerator costing Rs. 10 crore and a brachytherapy machine worth Rs. 2 crore.
“The RCC will double the capacity of the oncology department to 80 beds,” he added.
The new building has 20 beds each for surgical oncology and medical oncology
