Establishment of a NIMS-type super-specialty hospital in the city to cater to the needs of coastal Andhra has been pending since early ‘90s. The ‘decks were cleared” several times since then for the hospital, but the project failed to materialise for various reasons.
Decision on the division of the State has rekindled hope among people here. Vijayawada located at the junction of National Highway 9 (Machilipatnam to Hyderabad) and N.H. 5 (Chennai to Kolkata) is ideally situated for a super-speciality hospital.
People from Rayalaseema have Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences (SVIMS) with funds donated by the Tirumala-Tirupathi Devasthanams, but the people from Srikakulam to Prakasam depend on NIMS in Hyderabad for all their specialised healthcare needs.
After the establishment of University of Health Sciences here in 1986, the State government sanctioned funds for construction of buildings on the campus of the Siddhartha Medical College. The first Vice-Chancellor of Health University Lingam Suryanarayana took initiative and began construction of three blocks for the super-speciality hospital.
The project, however, came to a grinding halt very soon for want of funds. The buildings were left incomplete for over a decade. The State government then asked the health university to complete the first block and use it as its administrative office.
In 2006 the remaining two blocks were completed and used for the expansion of the Government General Hospital. Several agitations by the ruling and Opposition parties demanding the establishment of a super-speciality hospital did not materialise. Several delegations met various Chief Ministers, but the dream of a super-speciality hospital became a mirage.
