After a yearlong delay, the 250-bed Indiranagar General Hospital, near the Swami Vivekananda Road Metro Station on Old Madras Road in Bangalore, will be inaugurated on November 7.
Health Minister Aravind Limbavali, who announced this after inspecting work, said that the inauguration would also mark Sir C.V. Raman’s birth anniversary. “We will also consider naming the hospital after Sir C.V. Raman,” he said.
Pointing out that the work had almost been completed, the Minister said that the lifts, ramps for the physically challenged and the compound wall would be completed soon. “All the required equipment have been installed and the hospital will be ready for commissioning by November,” he said.
Built on a 33-acre campus of the 150-bed Old TB Sanatorium run by the State Health Department, the project was taken up under the Karnataka Health Systems Development and Reform Project (KHSDRP).
The Minister, who conceded that government hospitals needed a facelift, said: “People avoid government hospitals because of lack of facilities. We want to change this impression by adopting a public-private-partnership model to run them.”
Garbage crisis
On the ongoing garbage clearance crisis, Mr. Limbavali said: “While the private garbage contractors need to understand they are working for public benefit, scientific solutions are needed to tackle problems with regard to landfills.” He urged Mayor D. Venkatesh Murthy, Home Minister R. Ashok and BBMP officials to sit together and work out a solution.
“Work is not going forward because of the contractors’ lobby. They have to understand that public health is of utmost importance and they should remember that this is the job they were roped in for,” he added.
