Vijaywada, May 27: The long-pending demand to establish a super speciality hospital (SSH) in Vijayawada has been put in the cold storage yet again. Minister for Health D.L. Ravindra Reddy told reporters that the first priority of the State Government was to improve the Government General Hospital (GGH) and it would think of developing an SSH later.
Funds were released by former Chief Minister N.T. Rama Rao for the Super Specialty Hospital on the Siddhartha Medical College campus after Government took over it.
Lack of funds
The construction of three multi-storeyed blocks began on the college campus when Lingam Suryanarayana was the Vice-Chancellor of the NTR Health University.
Due to lack of funds the construction got stalled and the building remained incomplete for several years. Political and policy changes in the State also had an impact on the development of the SSH and the proposal was shelved for over a decade.
The half-constructed buildings in course of time were developed and utilised for other purposes. The Health University, which was functioning in the buildings of the Siddhartha Medical College with its own funds developed the first of the three blocks and shifted into it.
The remaining two blocks were developed with funds released for the development of the Government General Hospital, the teaching hospital of the Siddhartha Medical College as per the norms of the Medical Council of India (MCI).
Former Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy promised an SSH here, but the then Health Minister Galla Aruna Kumari wanted it to be set up in Mangalagiri to benefit people of both Krishna and Guntur districts. The non-availability of land in the city was another hurdle.
Later, Chief Minister K. Rosaiah also announced the allocation of Rs. 60 crore for the SSH in the city.
A few days after that the Health Secretary said that the SSH was not on the priority list of the State Government. Meanwhile, a House Committee studied the feasibility, but the panel’s report was never made public.
The demand for the hospital lost significance in the light of the Telangana agitation, but it became a hot topic for discussion against with the visit of Health Minister. MLAs and MLCs of the district told Principal Secretary for Health P.V.Ramesh that an SSH be established in the city. They said any proposal to relocate it in Guntur district should not be entertained.
At a separate meeting with Dr Ramesh the doctors of the Government General Hospital said that there was no point in establishing an SSH that caters to the needs of just 20 per cent of the patients without improving the Government General Hospital that caters to 80 per cent of the patients.
They suggested that it would be better to go for a super speciality block in the Government General Hospital .
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