The surgical super-specialty building block constructed under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) at the Government Medical College Hospital, Kozhikode, is an example of the practice of cooperative federalism by the Union and State governments, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said.
He was speaking after opening the building block on the medical college campus on Saturday. The Chief Minister said that while the Centre had spent ₹120 crore on the facility, the State allocated ₹76 crore. Kerala was a model for ensuring health services to all, Mr. Vijayan said.
The Kozhikode medical college is among the most important such institutions in the country. It is the first government medical college in the country where courses in family medicine and emergency medicine were launched. The Chief Minister also called for better focus on infectious and lifestyle diseases and more financial allocation from the Centre for the health sector.
According to sources, the new building block has sections for accident and trauma care and surgical super-specialty treatment, 500 beds, including 190 with intensive care unit (ICU) support, 19 operation theatres, and 10 ICUs.
Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, who presided over the event online, said Kerala had an important role to play in sectors such as education, tourism and health. Health Minister Veena George said liver transplant surgeries would now be possible at the medical college hospital. An advanced bio-safety level-3 lab is being set up at the hospital. Once it becomes functional, diagnostic tests for infectious diseases such as Nipah can be done at the facility, she added.
Ministers P.A. Mohamed Riyas and Ahammed Devarkovil, M.K. Raghavan, MP, and MLAs from the district were present.
