TIRUPATI: Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences (SVIMS) is planning to establish its own medical college and a 300-bed teaching hospital.

Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy will lay the foundation stone for the proposed Sri Padmavathi Medical College to be established near the Renigunta airport on November 3.

Against the state ratio of one doctor for 1,800 patients, Rayalaseema region is worse at 1:2000. When proposed by SVIMS that it sought to bring the ratio down to 1:700 by the year 2010, the Government granted the essentiality certificate for a medical college here.

The proposal is to have SVIMS university administrative building, academic wing and the general hospital in the new premises, while retaining the super-speciality block at Alipiri. The authorities are hoping to take advance possession of 65 acres of land within a week.

For admissions, SVIMS is not willing to take the EAMCET route and instead plans to hold a parallel state-level entrance test. Apart from the regular departments like gynaecology, orthopaedics, paediatrics, ENT and dental, the college plans to introduce courses in emerging areas like sports medicine, geriatric medicine and nuclear medicine.

The university authorities are going ahead with their plans though things do not appear easy to come their way.

First of all, the funding pattern is unclear. Though the Centre had assured Rs. 60 crores under the Rs.120-crore Prime Minister Swasthya Suraksha Yojna (PMSSY), aimed at developing five select super-speciality hospitals in the country on par with AIIMS, SVIMS top brass is, however, finding it difficult to secure a matching grant.

The process is also likely to get delayed. If staff recruitment is completed by June 2006 and the general hospital starts functioning by September, the Medical Council of India team could make a visit in November to give its approval, which means the college would not be ready till 2007-08. While most of the medical colleges are already facing a severe staff shortage, SVIMS sees no difficulty.

The selection of the campus too has raised several questions. While construction within 20 km radius of the airport has to invariably secure a clearance from Airports Authority of India, it is reliably learnt that SVIMS has not submitted any application in this regard so far.

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