Siliguri, March 21: By 2009, residents of north Bengal, the Northeast and even Nepal and Bhutan will not need to travel far for world-class healthcare facilities.

The Mittal Group based in north Bengal and the GPT Group of Calcutta, two prominent business houses of the state, have joined hands to develop a 150-bed super-speciality hospital at Matigara opposite the Uttorayon township here within the next couple of years.

The groups have formed a new joint venture company, TM Medicare Private Limited, for the project and have recruited Hospack, a prominent consultant of Mumbai, to build the hospital.

“Our aim is to provide medical care to middle class patients,” said Kamal Mittal of the Mittal Group. “Our target group includes people from the north Bengal districts, the Northeast and the neighbouring countries of Nepal and Bhutan who, as of now, are forced to rush to Calcutta or south India for treatment.”

The emergence of Siliguri as a health hub has become evident in the past 15 years, doctors here feel.

“At least 500 patients from the neighbouring areas come to Siliguri for treatment everyday,” said P. Roy, the president of Siliguri Nursing Home Owners’ Association. Currently, there are around 25 private clinics operating in the town, he said.

“A hospital targeting the middle class will definitely help those patients who travel all the way to Chennai for treatment even now,” Roy added.

The new hospital, Mittal said, would initially have surgery, orthopaedics, obstetrics, cardiology and cardio-surgery, nephrology, neurology and gynaecology departments (see chart). The1.38-lakh square ft of floor area would include a pharmacy, a diagnostic centre, wards, units like ICU and ITU and a temple, Mittal added.

“Once the project becomes operational, we will evaluate the inflow and nature of patients to decide on extension plans,” said the entrepreneur.

About the recruitment of doctors and medical and paramedical staff, Mittal said the administration “would definitely attempt to recruit skilled personnel from local institutions”. “Later, we will seek applications from the state and national levels. The idea is to recruit competent and responsible people. No compromise would be made with the quality of treatment,” he said.