Bhubaneswar, Sept. 22: The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here plans to get fully functional by March next year.

The institute has also set an ambitious target of increasing its bed strength to 1,000 from the current 450. It will also add several other medical facilities, institute director Gitanjali Batmanabane announced during its annual day celebrations yesterday.

'We are increasing the facilities at our peripheral hospital in a phased manner. We have already operationalised 35 of the 40 departments. A recruitment process is under way to add more quality faculties and make all the departments functional. The bed strength will also be doubled by March,' said Batmanbane.

The institute has also inaugurated a canteen on campus for relatives and attendants of patients.

This comes as a major relief for many since AIIMS's location on the outskirts of the state capital does not boast of eateries or other such facilities.

'The canteen was a necessity and it is a positive step,' said Sujata Das, a patient's attendant here.

Besides, the facilities at its periphery hospital, the premier institute has also decided to start postgraduate courses in all its departments from the next academic session. At present, the institute offers postgraduate courses in only 13 departments. It also plans to offer superspecialty courses in paediatric surgery, pulmonary medicine and neuro-surgery.

'We need to stand tall in providing quality medical education to our students. Over the years, the institute has gained popularity for its quality of education and service. We want to keep the momentum going and continue to offer more and more quality education to the students,' said AIIMS sub-dean Prabhash Ranjan Mishra.

Another AIIMS administrator said they had given job offers to 92 senior residents, who will join shortly.

'The new appointees will improve medical care at AIIMS. The recruitment process is still going on and will be over by the end of October,' said the administrator.

At present, 137 faculty members work at the institute. The new recruitments will take that number to 200. 'There is a need to have enough doctors to meet the growing demand of people. The new doctors will help strengthen not only education, but also medical facilities,' said Mishra.

A patient's attendant, Suryakant Mohanty, said over the years AIIMS had improved its facilities, but there was a need for proper mechanism at its outdoor facility.

'The centralised ticketing facility makes it difficult for a number of patients as it takes an entire day to get a ticket for the outpatient department. This needs to be taken care of,' said Mohanty, a resident of Khandagiri.