Work on Sarangpur centre put on hold

Tribune News Service

Naina Mishra

Chandigarh, December 28

The Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research’s Sarangpur centre project has been put on hold in the absence of approval to its Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) course by the Centre.

If approved, the construction at the PGI’s satellite centre will be altered as per the requirement of the course.

The possession of 50.76 acres was obtained last year. Initially, it was decided to set up a new OPD, shifting of trauma centre and cancer care to cut wait time for surgeries.

Finance panel to decide

• A college campus and a 500-bed hospital planned at the Sarangpur centre for quality education, research and patient care
• The college building is proposed to have space for all teaching departments to run MBBS course with 100 seats
• The matter will now come up at a Standing Finance Committee meeting for approval of budget by the Centre
• At present, the GMCH-32 is the lone institution in the city offering an MBBS course with 150 seats

Project cost Rs 1,800 cr

Project site 50.76 acre

It was principally deliberated to provide Emergency services in an efficient manner and thereby improve medical infrastructure at the facility.

Kumar Gaurav Dhawan, Deputy Director, PGI, says: “The Sarangpur centre project has been put on hold for now, until a final decision on the MBBS course comes. If the PGI has to run the course, the land at Sarangpur will be altered to cater to the needs of the course. We will have to decide which speciality blocks will have to be constructed to suit the academic requirement.”

The matter will be tabled at the Standing Finance Committee meeting for budget approval by the Centre. The proposed setup will have a college building with adequate space for all teaching departments for running MBBS course with 100 seats.

The total cost of the project with modern amenities has been estimated at Rs 1,800 crore. A new 500-bed hospital is also proposed to be attached to the medical college with requisite number of beds for respective clinical department as per National Medical Council guideline.

The proposal envisages a college campus along with an attached hospital fully equipped with the state-of-the-art facilities for quality education, research and patient care. It also help the institute in addressing the increasing demand of hospital beds, more modular operating theatres, and state-of-the-art ICU facility for better patient care.

A proposal was tabled at a Standing Academic Committee meeting recently for approval for setting up of medical college for MBBS and also 500-bed hospital, an extension of Nehru Hospital having all clinical departments required for running the course.

“Considering the shortage of medical doctors in the country, this expertise of faculty and residents can be used effectively to provide quality training to undergraduates also by starting an MBBS course at the PGI,” reads the proposal.

At present, the Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, is the lone institution in the city offering an MBBS course. From academic session 2019-20, intake of MBBS students/per year has been increased to 150 seats.

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