Injecting hope: healthcare in Telangana gets three booster shots

There is no mechanism to eliminate viruses completely, but the impact can be mitigated by building a sound health infrastructure, said Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, recalling the havoc unleashed by the COVID-19 pandemic across the globe.

Speaking after laying the foundation stone for three Telangana Institute of Medical Sciences (TIMS) on Tuesday, Mr Chandrasekhar Rao said that since the emergence of other infectious diseases could not be ruled out, the States with robust health services will see less devastation.

The three new autonomous health facilities, which would come up in Gaddianaram (near L.B. Nagar), Sanathnagar, and Alwal, will be in addition to the first TIMS in Gachibowli, which started functioning during the pandemic.

One of the main reasons for establishing the hospitals is to help cut down the commute time of patients and attendants who choose to avail medical services at the existing major government hospitals in Hyderabad — Gandhi Hospital, Osmania General Hospital (OGH), Niloufer Hospital, and the autonomous Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS).

With the four TIMS coming up in four corners of the city, the patient load would be distributed, thereby bringing down the pressure on the existing tertiary care facilities.

Each of the four facilities would have 1,000 beds, including 300 ICU beds. This is expected to help patients and their attendants avoid spending as high as ₹25,000 to ₹50,000 per day on ICU treatment in private hospitals.

Apart from that, 2,000 beds would be added to NIMS, the Chief Minister added.

Minister for Health T. Harish Rao said no government hospital had come up in the State for the past several decades. Gandhi Hospital’s history dates back to 1851 while OGH was established in 1919. The new institutes are being set up keeping in mind the healthcare needs for the next 50 years, he pointed out.

On the occasion, Mr Harish Rao reiterated the initiatives taken in the past few years such as opening up of more dialysis centres, Basthi Dawakhanas and Telangana Diagnostic Centres, among other facilities.