Pramesh S Jain
*Facility planned as a major super-speciality healthcare hub for the rapidly growing northern Bengaluru region.
Bengaluru:A long-pending demand for a well-equipped government hospital in the rapidly expanding northern Bengaluru region has moved closer to reality with the foundation stone being laid for a new 125-bed hospital in the Byatarayanapura Assembly constituency,Bengaluru Development Minister Krishna Byre Gowda said on Sunday.
Speaking after performing the groundbreaking ceremony for the hospital at Bellahalli in Yelahanka taluk,the Minister said the ₹75-crore facility would not merely address the immediate healthcare needs of residents but was being planned as the foundation for a much larger super-speciality healthcare centre serving North Bengaluru.
The hospital is one of two new 125-bed hospitals,each estimated to cost ₹75 crore,for which foundation-laying ceremonies were held at Bellahalli and at the Animal Husbandry and Agriculture Department premises in the Hebbal Assembly constituency.
From a 125-bed hospital to a 250-bed facility:
The new hospital will comprise three floors,including the ground floor,and will provide multiple specialised medical services.
The government has also planned to add two more floors in the future, taking the total capacity to 250 beds, Mr.Byre Gowda said.
Further strengthening the long-term vision, two acres of land behind the hospital have been earmarked for a future super-speciality block.
The Minister said the objective was to gradually develop the facility into a major healthcare centre for the region.
He said the project addresses a longstanding structural gap in healthcare infrastructure in the constituency, which stretches from the M.S.Ramaiah College and Ring Road area to the Narayanapura border and up to Kempegowda International Airport.
Addressing a long-standing healthcare gap:
The constituency did not have a separate taluk headquarters,which had made it difficult to establish a major government hospital under the usual system of providing taluk-level hospitals at taluk headquarters.
While one part of the constituency falls under Yelahanka taluk and another under K.R.Puram taluk,residents had consequently lacked access to a large government hospital in their immediate vicinity.
“Recognising this gap,we have been pursuing the matter continuously for the past four to five years.
Today,that effort has finally translated into the foundation for a 125-bed, fully equipped government hospital,”Mr.Byre Gowda said.
Healthcare support for fast-growing neighbourhoods:
The hospital is expected to benefit residents of Thanisandra,Kempapura,Kogilu,
The region has a substantial population of workers and middle-class families,for whom the cost of treatment at private hospitals can be a significant burden.
With the hospital connected by a four-lane road network, residents from surrounding villages will also have easier access to government healthcare,the Minister said.
Another 60-bed hospital ready in Singapura:
Mr.Byre Gowda also said that a 60-bed hospital constructed by the Greater Bengaluru Authority in the Singapura area has been completed and is ready for inauguration.
The facility is expected to be opened to the public shortly and will provide immediate support to the healthcare needs of residents in the surrounding areas.
The Minister expressed his appreciation to former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and former Deputy Chief Minister D.K.Shivakumar for extending immediate support to the project, and to former Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao for including and securing approval for the hospital in the State Budget.
He also thanked Health Minister,U.T.Khader,elected representatives, officials and all departments involved in taking the project forward.
Health Minister,U.T.Khader,MLA,Dinesh Gundu Rao and other public representatives and officials were present at the programme.
