A catheterisation laboratory for the Cardiology Department is one of the first steps to be taken towards setting up a full-fledged Superspecialty Block in the Government Medical College, Ernakulam.
No date has been fixed but it is learnt that the facility will be part of the department soon with more doctors joining in within a year.
The government has in principle accepted the development proposals for the medical college and is in the last leg towards finalising the detailed project plan. The plan includes a Superspecialty Block, Maternal and Child Health Centre and Quarters for Nurses and PG Students.
Health Secretary Rajeev Sadanandan told The Hindu that the projects that were expected to be set in motion early next year would help the medical college acquire its rightful status in another three years. The project proposals, once accepted, would be sent to the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board for funding.
Staff integration
Dr. Sadanandan said the integration issues of the staff in the medical college, which had been developing over the past three years since the government took over the college, had been sorted out and the work was progressing accordingly. The staff strength issue was also being addressed, he said.
Quite a few doctors have joined the medical college recently, which has helped form a proper department in Forensic Sciences and Psychiatry and strengthened certain other departments. Community Medicine is another department that requires more faculty strength. Recruitment of administrative staff is also in the process.
The medical college, even though is 16-years-old, had failed to grow into a public institution with proper infrastructure that the poor can depend upon to meet their medical care needs.
Except for the 500-odd beds, the basic infrastructure of the institution remained poor, from lack of healthcare hands to no proper systems in place that help run a medical college effectively.
