The foyer of Centenary Hospital, which would treat only port employees and pensioners. Services will soon be offered to all. Picture by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

The Calcutta Port Trust (CPT) is throwing open the gates of its multi-speciality, 200-bed hospital at Majherhat for all. Earlier, the hospital admitted only port employees and pensioners.

The CPT is also planning to start a diploma course in medical laboratory technology for working laboratory technicians in July, besides a number of other courses.

Chairman of the CPT A.K. Chanda told Metro: “Our hospital’s fees will be substantially lower than those charged in other private hospitals in the city. And we believe we can provide better services and the best treatment.”

Last week, the CPT decided that employees of public sector companies, banks and insurance companies could avail of the hospital’s facilities.

In the next two months, the CPT will try to open the hospital’s outdoor section to all, said a CPT official.

The Centenary Hospital —built to commemorate 100 years of the CPT — was established in 1970 to cater to the requirements of more than 50,000 port employees. But as the workforce dwindled to a little more than 10,000 employees, the facilities were being under-utilised, even with around 5,000 pensioners receiving treatment here.

Explained Chanda: “This is not a money-making idea. Our aim is to optimally utilise the hospital’s capacity and make the facilities available to a larger section of society.”

Medical insurance providers will be more comfortable with this hospital, knowing that common problems of false billing would not crop up in a government set-up, he added.

The CPT is also seeking a corporate alliance with public sector companies, banks and insurance companies who want to offer their employees “cashless” medical treatment, said a CPT official.

The CPT is giving medical education a shot by launching a diploma course in medical laboratory technology.

The first batch of the course, which is starting in July, will comprise 10 working laboratory technicians. The prospectus for the course is available.

A nurse training course will start in October. Thirty seats will be on offer initially.

The CPT is planning to launch DNB (Diplomate in National Board) courses for postgraduation in medicine and surgery next year. “Students enrolling for these courses will be more than an asset to our hospital,” signed off Chanda.