The Hindu : Karnataka / Hassan News : District hospital set to house pre-clinical courses

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Thursday, Jun 16, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka - Hassan

District hospital set to house pre-clinical courses

Staff Correspondent

MCI team impressed with infrastructure available

HASSAN: The State Government is making efforts to admit students to the medical college here from this academic year. Members of the governing council of the Hassan Institute of Medical Sciences (HIMS), an autonomous body formed for the purpose, tried to impress on the Medical Council of India (MCI) team, which visited Hassan on June 8 to inspect the infrastructure available at the college, the importance of starting the medical college immediately.

The three-member MCI team, headed by S.B. Agarwal, was happy with the infrastructure available at the college, sources said.

Converted

Mr. Agarwal inspected each department of the Sri Chamarajendra District Hospital and discussed the possibility of using the hospital for teaching purposes. He also visited the first floor of the hospital building, where arrangements have been made to start pre-clinical courses. The vacant wards have been converted into lecture halls, and physiology, anatomy, biochemistry blocks.

Dhananjya, principal of the college; Prasad, Secretary for Medical Education; Devamani, District Surgeon; and Nagaraja Rao, District Health Officer, provided information to the MCI team, sources said.

When Mr. Agarwal suggested that doctors working at the hospital should teach at the new college, 24 of the 28 doctors said they preferred to work as assistant professors and junior residents. Mr. Dhananjaya informed the MCI team that the governing council has already interviewed and finalised a list of candidates to be appointed as faculty members. On getting approval from the MCI, the college will issue appointment orders. "We have done our best to impress the MCI team, it is now for the council to decide," a member of governing council told The Hindu .

The setting up of a medical college in Hassan will help the Sri Chamarajendra District Hospital, as specialised care will be available at the hospital and its capacity will be upgraded from the present 350 beds to 1,000 beds.

A sub-division of the Public Works Department, formed to complete work on the medical college building, has handed over to the MCI team an estimate for the alterations to the first floor of the hospital to accommodate the college till the new building is constructed. Even if the council permits HIMS to start the college, it will inspect the institute after two months to inspect whether the governing council has complied with the directions of MCI, sources said.

The work on demolishing the existing structure next to the Sri Chamarajendra District Hospital has been completed. Tenders for the construction of the college building were invited on March 28 and the work order was issued to the Bangalore-based Nagarjuna Construction Company on May 18, sources in the Public Works Department said.

Construction

A four-storey building will be constructed for the college and construction is expected to be complete over the next three years.

An administration block, library, lecture halls and the departments of anatomy, physiology, biophysics, biochemistry, pathology, and microbiology will be constructed in the first phase. Though Rs. 55 crores has been sought for the construction, the Government has sanctioned only Rs. 20 crores. An additional Rs. 1 crore will be released to purchase medical equipment, the sources said.

The college building will be constructed on 25.10 acres and an area of 13,000 sq. m will be utilised during the first phase of the construction.

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