The Health Department has taken up a special plan for strengthening the infrastructure, particularly buildings of hospitals and primary health centres, in the district.
Many of the primary health centres had been functioning in old and dilapidated erstwhile village panchayat-owned maternity buildings. “Many of them had developed cracks. Hence, the Health Department sent proposals for demolition of the old buildings and, instead, construct new and more spacious ones,” an official source told The Hindu on Monday.
The Health Department had identified a couple of primary health centre buildings which were very weak and lacked adequate amenities.
In the first phase, work on the construction of primary health centre at Akkoor has been taken up and is being executed at an estimate of Rs.1.10 crore. “It was established way back in 1956 and functioned as a maternity home. Later, under the Family Welfare Scheme, an operation theatre was added to it in the Sixties. But, since the entire building was weak, the Health Department, under the National Health Mission Scheme, has taken up construction of 30-bed capacity primary health centre. It would have pre-natal care unit, labour ward and post natal unit. It will also have a paediatric ward.
Work on the construction of the hospital was nearing completion and would be ready for occupation within a couple of months, according to official sources.
A similar facelift would be given to the primary health centre at Kiliyanur near Kuththalam in course of time, the source said.
