Medanta the Medicity group on Tuesday officially started the project of constructing a super-speciality hospital at Jai Prabha Hospital on public-private partnership mode.

The group's founder-cum-director Naresh Trehan participated in the foundation stone-laying ceremony of the hospital, along with chief minister Nitish Kumar at Samvad Bhavan.

According to the agreement between Medanta and the health department, the group has to develop a 500-bed super-speciality hospital on the Jai Prabha Hospital land within two-and-a-half-years. The hospital would be called Global Health Patliputra Pvt. Limited.

The state has given the seven-acre land of Jai Prabha Hospital to Medanta on a 33-year lease. The agreement states that 25 per cent seats would be reserved by Medanta for below poverty line patients at the upcoming hospital. The BPL families would be provided treatment on central government health schemes rates. Once the treatment is done, the BPL patient would be reimbursed the treatment cost.

Among the super-speciality departments that would be available in the hospital are orthopaedics, cancer, cardiology, trauma and critical care, neuro sciences, renal sciences, endocrinology and diabetes, gastroenterology, liver, kidney and bone marrow transplant.

Trehan, a noted cardiac surgeon, said: "Medanta had decided to start a project in deprivedstates, including Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Today with the foundation stone-laying ceremony of the project, we feel we have accomplished half of our dream."

Trehan said Medanta would positively think about hiring skilled Bihari doctors, who are working outside the state. "Bihar has no dearth of talent. Many Bihari doctors are working outside the state because they did not get good scope here. We would try to hire such doctors for the project," said Trehan.

The chief minister in his address dubbed the foundation stone-laying ceremony of the hospital as a big day.

Nitish in a lighter vein said: "The IAS officers always demand central deputation seeking quality education of their children and for the need of specialised treatment in big hospitals in Delhi. Now the IAS officers don't need to make such lame excuses at least for their health issues. Medanta has ensured this. The IAS officers can get specialised treatment at Medanta itself."