Work on a seven-storey super speciality building at Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) is likely to begin in December this year.

The seven-storey hospital will be built at an estimated cost of Rs 180 crore funded by the central government and is expected to be functional in 2018.

Dr. V.K. Gupta, principal, PMCH, said: 'The Union health ministry has expedited the work with regard to construction of super-speciality centre at PMCH. The map of the hospital has been prepared and the centre has already initiated the process for buying equipment.'

While Rs 100 crore has been sanctioned for the construction of buildings, Rs 80 crore will be spent on buying equipment for the hospital, Gupta said.

The PMCH principal further said: 'The super-specialty hospital will have facilities for kidney, heart and neuro-surgery, nephrology, plastic surgery and radiotherapy among others. A state-of-the-art cardiac catheterisation laboratory is also planned. This laboratory would have the facilities to conduct procedures such as coronary angiography, coronary angioplasty and pacemaker implantations.'

Gupta said once the project is completed it will be a boon for the patients coming to PMCH from across the state and also from neighbouring Jharkhand and Nepal and added: 'All the facilities from registration up to investigation, treatment and providing medicines will be done under one roof.'

The super-speciality centre will be built by the central public works department (CPWD), a Government of India enterprise.

The Union ministry of health and family welfare has sanctioned Rs 180 crore each to PMCH, Anugrah Narayan Medical College and Hospital, Gaya, and Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital, Bhagalpur, to improve the infrastructure of these public health care facilities. The ministry is providing monetary assistance to the state-based colleges under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana under which necessary infrastructure has to be created for new super-speciality departments in all these hospitals.

Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana aims at correcting the imbalances in the availability of affordable healthcare facilities in the different parts of the country in general, and augmenting facilities for quality medical education in the under-served states in particular. The scheme was approved in March 2006. Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana has two components - setting up of six institutions on the lines of AIIMS and upgrading 13 existing government medical college institutions.

A principal of a government medical college, who was earlier posted at PMCH, said: 'Lack of super-speciality department and inadequate infrastructure at the existing super-speciality departments in PMCH compel doctors of these hospitals to refer their patients to private hospitals. We hope with the coming up of this centre the medicare facility for the residents of the state capital will get a boost.'