Bhubaneswar, May 20: In the not-too-distant future, falling sick won’t mean a 12-km drive to the nearest hospital for people who stay in areas such as Jayadev Vihar, Sainik School area and Chandrasekharpur.

The much-awaited 250-bed multi-disciplinary hospital at Gadakana will be established on a five-acre plot opposite Mahanadi Coal Fields Limited. The general administration department has allocated the plot to the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation.

The hospital will fulfil the long-standing demand of residents who live in the locality near Jayadev Vihar, Sainik School and Chandrasekharpur, as there is not a single government-run reliable health-care delivery institution in the area and the sick have to depend on Capital Hospital, which is nearly 12km away.

Municipal commissioner Sanjib Kumar Mishra told The Telegraph: “We had a meeting with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a sister concern of the World Bank, on May 7 and the tenders will be out for the project by August. The IFC’s plan, however, will also include upgrading the 106-bed Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation Hospital in Old Town and the five dispensaries managed by the hospital.”

On February 27, the corporation’s council had passed a resolution to establish the multi-disciplinary hospital in Gadakana and in March first week the civic body signed a memorandum of understanding with IFC as the transaction advisor to the project. The plot the general administration department had promised finally came into the corporation’s possession on May 14.

Sources said the hospital project would need more than Rs 100 crore and either the French government or the Asian Development Bank would fund it.

The IFC has prepared a report that has shown that Khurda district, including Bhubaneswar, needs 6,990 hospital beds based on the specifications of the World Health Organisation, which says there should be at least three beds per 1,000 people. But this area has just 4,440 beds, which means there is a shortfall of 2,550 beds.

According to norms laid down by International Public Health Standard, there should be 466 beds at the primary health centres, while Khurda and Bhubaneswar have only 276, which means there is a shortfall of 190. A population of 30,000 should have one six-bed primary health centre.

Similarly, there should be 582 hospital beds at the community health centres. Khurda district has 390, which means there is a shortfall of 192. International Public Health Standard parameters call for a 30-bed community health centre for a 1.2 lakh population.

“Even after we have the multi-disciplinary hospital, we will still have a sizeable need for hospital beds in the city and Khurda district. We need more health-care facilities to cater to the needs of the people,” said the municipal commissioner.

Madan Majhi, councillor of ward No. 7, in whose area the proposed Gadakana hospital falls, said: “The civic body’s venture will be a major boost for the health-care delivery system as many people from the ward still depend on Capital Hospital and the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation Hospital.”

The hospital in Gadakana will help people from areas such as Mancheswar, Sainik School area, Vani Vihar, Nandankanan, Raghunathpur, Patia, Damana, Veer Surendra Sai Nagar, Sailashri Vihar, Niladri Vihar, Chandrasekharpur and Jayadev Vihar. “For years, we have been demanding a better hospital for the people in our area. The facility at Gadakana will help all income groups,” said Kalpana Samal of Chandrasekharpur.