New building, nursing college part of ICH growth

KOLKATA: The

Institute of Child Health

(

ICH

), Kolkata, is all set to expand. In addition to a new 10-storey building, the institute will also venture into training nurses. Construction of the new building will begin once the authority gets the sanction plan passed.

Dr Dilip Mahalanabis on Wednesday handed over a cheque of Rs 50 lakh as part of his commitment to donate Rs 1 crore to the hospital. Various organizations, including the

State Bank of India

, have contributed towards the new hospital building. CREDAI has agreed to construct the building on a cost-to-cost basis and the hospital will bear the cost of building one floor with its own funds.

To be constructed at a cost of Rs 22 crore, the new building will come up on the same premises at Dr Biresh Guha Street. Once ready, the hospital will be shifted there and the existing building will be converted into a nursing college.

“Land is ready and the funds, too, are almost ready thanks to all those who have come forward to help us. We will start construction once we get the building plan sanctioned. We expect to start operating from the new building in two years. Currently, we have 220 beds. Once the new building becomes functional, our bed strength will increase to 300,” said ICH director Dr Apurba Ghosh.

Started in 1956 by Dr K C

Chaudhuri

, the non-profit hospital is run by a trust.

Constructed years ago, the old building has become incapable of housing new facilities. The new building will facilitate installation of new equipment and upgrade of infrastructure.

Though ICH is a teaching institute, the hospital has no facility for training nurses. “There is a shortage of qualified nurses in Kolkata, specially in paediatrics. We plan to conduct courses on general nursing with special focus on paediatric care,” added Ghosh.