Take heart. The city's long-cherished dream of having its first super-specialty hospital would take shape once the name of a private player is finalised within the next 45 days.
The planned hospital would come up on a seven-acre plot on the premises of Jaiprabha Hospital, which is a government facility.
International Finance Corporation (IFC), which is handling the bidding process to select the agency for building and subsequent management of the proposed hospital, is going to float the final tender for this hospital shortly and all the formalities regarding selection of the bidder would be completed within 45 days.
Pankaj Sinha, investment officer, IFC, told over the phone from Delhi: "The final tender regarding the project would be issued by the end of this week or by the end of April."
Some of the best-known names in the medical field such as Medanta, Apollo, Asian Institute of Medical Sciences, Glocal Healthcare Systems Private Limited, Narayana Hrudayalaya and Abengoa have evinced interest in this project that has to be implemented in public-private partnership (PPP) mode. These hospitals, sources said, had turned up for the pre-bid meeting and had appeared keen on getting to know the details.
"Let us see how things unfold in the final stage of bidding. We just hope that big players come forward as the proposed hospital would cater to a very large chunk of population," said a source.
The proposed hospital would have 500 beds and it would provide tertiary care to patients and thus allow people to avail the best possible treatment for different kinds of ailments in the city itself.
City doctors had mixed reactions over the usefulness of the project for the people of the state. Sunil Kumar Singh, the vice-president of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) state chapter, said: "The state government plans to provide subsidised treatment to below poverty line families through the upcoming project, which is a very good initiative."
Rajiv Ranjan Prasad, the former president of the IMA state chapter, said: "The health delivery system in the state can be improved and effective only if the state-run health facilities are strengthened. The PPP mode ultimately becomes a private-profit partnership mode."
