Ahead of the centenary celebrations of Mysore Medical College and Research Institute (MMCRI) slated to be held in 2024, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, who presented his maiden budget on Friday, announced the restoration of buildings housing the hospitals attached to the MMCRI that are identified as heritage buildings and allocated a sum of ₹ 89 crore for the work.
The renovation of K.R. Hospital, Cheluvamba Hospital and PKTB Hospital, the three teaching hospitals of MMCRI, will happen the next three years. The allocation was long-awaited as the structures are in bad shape with no proper maintenance and needed complete conservation.
The CM, acting on a proposal submitted by the MMCRI since the buildings are built using lime and mortar, allocated the much-needed funds for their strengthening conforming to the heritage rules.
Sources said the MMCRI had also sought allocation for procuring equipment for making the super speciality hospital and trauma care centre, which temporarily functioned as COVID-19 hospitals, fully functional. With no equipment and manpower, the facilities are yet to become functional for which they were built.
With the UG intake in MMCRI expected to go up from 150 to 250 soon, the operation of new facilities has become imminent. But the budget has no mention about these works.
The MMCRI had submitted its proposals to its parent department on the necessities of the new hospitals. If the new hospitals were functional by now, a portion of in-patient and out-patient services could have been shifted to the new facilities, easing pressure on K.R. Hospital.
The 220-bed super speciality hospital was built at a cost of ₹134 crore. It has a built area of 2,20,676.84 sq ft with each floor having over 40,000 sq ft of space to accommodate the departments and other facilities.
Nearly a dozen departments, including neurology, neuro surgery, medical gastroenterology, surgical gastroenterology, plastic surgery, paediatric surgery, medical oncology, surgical oncology, radiation oncology, and other departments from K.R. Hospital would be shifted to the super speciality hospital after it becomes fully ready to handle the patients.
The trauma care centre was also in need of attention as the facility remains unoccupied despite having built a few years ago. Lack of manpower and equipment has kept the 120-bed facility unused.
