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The first phase of the Rs 500 crore Chettinad Health City (CHC)
at Kelambakkam, Chennai, was inaugurated by Tamil Nadu Chief
Minister M Karunanidhi on November 15, 2007.
CHC is promoted by Rajah Sir Muthiah Chettiar Charitable
and Educational Trust and is spread over 100 acres of
well-landscaped and efficiently planned infrastructure in
Kelambakkam on the proposed six-lane IT corridor. The CHC will
comprise a super speciality hospital with 1,000 beds for
delivery of quality, integrated health care solutions, promote
health IT, health industries and impart medical and paramedical
education.
CHC from the Chettinad Group will be India's first non-profit
health city venture. Currently, it has three centres of
excellence, Institute of Cardio-Vascular Disease, Institute of
Assisted Fertility (IVF) and Nephrology. The first phase, with
12-lakh sq ft of construction, has already been completed and is
replete with modern facilities. Currently, CHC houses a 600-bed
hospital, a medical, dental and nursing college with an intake
of about 300 students annually. Residential accommodation
facility and essential amenities for patients are provided.
Speaking at the inauguration of the first
phase of the CHC, Dr M A M Ramaswamy, MP and managing trustee,
Rajah Muthiah Chettiar Charitable and Educational Trust, said,
"Tamil Nadu has always been in the forefront in promoting
excellence in medical education and quality health care for the
masses. The Chettinad Group is proud to launch a
first-of-its-kind project – Chettinad Health City - in south
India. It will be a great boon to those seeking world-class
healthcare and for students seeking quality education. Our focus
would be on making the health city an internationally recognised
centre for quality healthcare."
He added that phase 2 and 3 will promote
medical tourism and research, develop health information
technology and establish health industries. Phase 3 will be
completed by 2009.
Dr R Ravi Kumar, who will spearhead the
Institute of Cardio-Vascular Disease, said the Health City has
been created with a clear mandate to bring advanced healthcare
to all. CHC today has 256 full-time doctors with women
constituting around 40 per cent. He added that at the Institute
of Cardio-Vascular Disease at CHC robotic surgery would be
carried out. To this effect, Rs 40 crore has been invested on
special equipment, inclusive of Rs 25 crore in the Institute of
Cardio-Vascular Disease. About medical costs, Dr Ravi Kumar said
CHC pricing would be competitive.
CHC offers an integrated research support
system and will function as a converging point for high-end
medical research and academics. It will promote postgraduate and
doctoral research across various disciplines like nanotechnology
and stem cell research, which can be employed in a variety of
neurological and cardiac conditions.
CHC has inked a pact with Malaysia-based
Master Skill College of Nursing and Health, to train nursing
students. It is also negotiating with institutions from European
countries and Australia.
R Rangaraj
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