Hyderabad: IT Minister KT Rama Rao on Saturday inaugurated a new palliative care facility with 82 beds at the Sparsh Hospice in the city, adjacent to Oakridge School in Khajaguda.
Speaking on the occasion, KT Rama Rao said that the government of Telangana is considering investing in palliative care. “I learned from the Health Secretary that the government is actively considering a partnership with private entities,” he added.
Sparsh Hospice is one of the two biggest palliative care facilities in India. It also is said to possess ultra-modern palliative care and hospice in entire India, informed Ram Mohan Rao Yarrapothu, CEO of Sparsh Hospice.
Sparsh Hospice is an interdisciplinary medical care center aimed at optimizing the quality of life and mitigating suffering among people with serious, complex illnesses and end-stage cancer patients. Sparsh Hospice is an initiative of the Rotary Club of Banjara Hills Charitable Trust. The project was established in the year 2011 at Banjara Hills, Road No. 12.
When it started off, it was a 12-bed hospital. In the last 10 years, however, it has offered care, comfort, pain management, and dignity to terminal patients. It has been offering in-house patient care, home care, and outpatient services.
So far it has served around 4,000 patients free of cost from Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, and other neighboring states. Now it has expanded its capacity to 82 beds and shifted from Banjara Hills to Khajaguda. The 60,000 square feet facility is constructed at 1.1 acres of land leased out by the government of Telangana.
The facility is built at Rs 15 crore and is funded by donations from corporates and individuals willing to provide free care to terminally ill cancer patients.