Sambalpur, June 14: A 56-bed tertiary cancer care centre will be set up at Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (Vimsar) at an estimated cost of Rs 45 crore.
The Union government will contribute 60 per cent of the total estimated cost and the balance will be borne by the state government.
The proposed centre will be set up under the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular and Stroke of the Union government.
"While Rs 13.50 crore will be spent for the construction of building, Rs 31.50 crore will be spent on the purchase of instruments and equipment. The centre will be a five-storey building on the Vimsar premises. People will not have to go outside for the treatment of cancer after the centre is established," said Vimsar director Sonamali Bag.
Vimsar has a radiotherapy department, but it faces acute staff shortage. It is now running with only one doctor when the sanctioned strength is four. There should ideally be a professor, an assistant professor, an associate processor and a senior resident, but the department is running with a single associate professor. There are 24 beds in the male and the female wards of the department.
Associate professor of the department Kabita Majhi said: "Like the Acharya Harihar Regional Cancer Centre in Cuttack, the proposed tertiary cancer care centre at Vimsar will be equipped with all the required modern equipment for diagnosis and treatment of cancer patients."
"People from the region and neighbouring states depend on Vimsar for health care services. Poor cancer patients will be able to avail better medical care after the proposal materialises," said Dhananjaya Satpathy, a local resident.
Water treatment plant
Work on a 2.25 million litres per day (MLD) water treatment plant has started at Vimsar. "A Bhubaneswar-based firm is executing the work that is being carried out at an estimated cost of Rs 5.15 crore," said assistant engineer of Public Health Engineering Organisation (PHEO) Bijaya Kumar Mund.
A 2.25 MLD water treatment plant already exists at the institute. The new one will augment supply to the institute and several new buildings that have come up in the complex. The Junior Doctors' Association (JDA) have been demanding adequate water supply to the hospital, college and hostels of the institution for long. The demand of the JDA will be fulfilled once the project materialises.
"The project will cater to the needs of next 15 years," said an official of PHEO.
Another demand of the JDA is to install a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine at the hospital. The institute has already procured an MRI machine.
"A 1.5 Tesla MRI machine has already been brought. The machine will be functional within a month. It will operate on public-private partnership (PPP) mode. HLL Life Care has procured the machine and the institute is providing the infrastructure," said director of Vimsar Sonamali Bag.
The JDA has also decided to open an information centre at the institute to provide assistance and guidance to patients and others who are visiting the hospital.
"Patients coming to the institute from far-flung areas, including neighbouring states, often do not find basic information pertaining to doctors in wards and the out patient department. The centre will assist such people," said JDA president Shankar Ramchandani.
