Centre's scheme comes in handy for Telangana

Warangal: Better late than never, thus goes the phrase. It seems like the inordinate delay in operationalising the near-complete super-speciality hospital coming up on the Kakatiya Medical College (KMC) campus may have denied the locals better healthcare, but now it has become a shot in the arm for the State government which is grappling to deal with the ever increasing number of coronavirus cases.

The surge in the number of Covid-19 infected cases and the lack of adequate infrastructure in the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospital (MGMH) pushed the administration to the brink, inviting strong criticism from various quarters. Against this backdrop, the government has decided to convert the 250-bed super-speciality hospital into Covid-19 special, in addition to the existing facility in the MGMH.

It may be noted here that the Centre sanctioned a super-speciality hospital for the KMC in 2016 under Phase III of Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY), a flagship programme aimed at correcting the imbalances in the availability of affordable healthcare facilities across the country. Although the construction of the Rs 150 crore seven-storied super-speciality hospital was scheduled to be completed by July 31, 2019, due to the lack of funds especially with the State government not releasing its share of Rs 30 crore, it remained a non-starter. As a result, the needy people were denied of healthcare in cardiology, CTVS, neurology, neurosurgery, urology, nephrology, gastroenterology, paediatric surgery, medical oncology and oto-rhino-laryngology.

Now, the State government's sanctioned Rs 12 crore made it clear that it wants to utilise the hospital for Covid-19 treatment as a makeshift for the time being.

"The sophisticated healthcare equipment procured from abroad is lying idle in the storeroom and in danger of running out of warranty period without being put to use," a senior Professor of the KMC told The Hans India, on condition of anonymity. The super-speciality would have gone operationalised long back if the authorities concerned had shown a bit of interest. The hospital would have added 20 additional post-graduation seats besides being of immense help to the local medicos, he said.