New Delhi, Aug 31 (UNI) Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Harsh Vardhan along with Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa digitally dedicated the Super Specialty Trauma Centre (SSTC) in Vijayanagar Institute of Medical Sciences, Ballari to the nation.
Afterwards, MoS HFW Ashwini Kumar Choubey inaugurated the Express Feeder Line, ICU wards and the 13KL Liquid Medical Oxygen Tank of the facility and Dr K Sudhakar, Minister of Medical Education, Government of Karnataka, inaugurated the state-of-the-art CT Scan that is capable of taking 128 cross section slices, an official release here said.
The SSTC has been built with an investment of Rs 150 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY).
It has departments of Emergency and Trauma, Neurosurgery and Orthopedics. This new block has eight Operation Theatres, including 6 modular ones, 200 super specialty beds, 72 ICU beds, 20 ventilators and state-of-the-art CT Scan and digital x-ray machine. This facility will have a training capacity of 27 PG students.
Recalling the contribution of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and former External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in seeing the projects get off the ground, Dr Harsh Vardhan said "Phase III of PMSSY was announced only after 2019 and Ballari got its Trauma Centre within the next year. Work for the 74 medical colleges to be opened in the aspirational districts are in full swing."
A new AIIMS for the state was under active consideration and of the four medical colleges that were being built, one each in the aspirational districts of Chikkamagaluru, Haveri, Yadgir and Chikkaballapur, he said and added that so far, 157 medical colleges had been opened with Central financing and local monitoring by the State administration, an official release here said.
Mr Yediyurappa thanked the Union Government for its proactive role in strengthening the health infrastructure in Karnataka and requested the Health Minister to consider upgrading the ESI Hospital in Gulbarga to AIIMS so that people of the region were better served.
Karnataka ministers Anand Singh and B Sreeramulu, Dr B Devanand, Director, VIMS, Ballari were also present at the event hosted by B Nagendra, MLA for Ballari rural constituency.
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