The virtual inauguration of facilities by the Prime Minister was attended by Lt. Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, Chief Minister N Rangasamy.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday announced , via video conferencing, a host of facilities at Jipmer’s off-site campus in Karaikal and the multi-speciality consulting unit at Yanam.
The infrastructure launched at Jipmer Karaikal included an academic building for the medical college, hostels for boys and girls, a nurses’ hostel, and 154 residential units.
The live-stream of the event organised at Jipmer Karaikal was attended by Lt. Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, Chief Minister N. Rangasamy, S. Selvaganabathy, MP, K. Lakshminarayanan, Public Works Minister, A.K. Sai J. Saravanan Kumar, Civil Supplies Minister, Sharat Chauhan, Chief Secretary, Rakesh Aggarwal, Jipmer Director, and others.
According to a press note from Jipmer, the projects were undertaken at a sanctioned cost of ₹491 crore, including ₹405 crore for construction. The expansion of Karaikal campus project, which was initiated in August 2016 in temporary buildings with an intake of 50 MBBS students every year, was envisaged in phases.
The Government of Puducherry allotted two pieces of land measuring 67.33 acres to the institute for setting up the permanent campus, which was planned in two phases.
The first phase — spread over two campuses — included general development of both the campuses, and construction of an academic building for the medical college, hostels for boys and girls, a nurses’ hostel, and about 150 residential units. The academic building for medical college is five-storeyed with plinth area of 26,000 square metres and provision for an additional floor in future. It will house 24 departments
Each campus is zero-discharge, with in-house sewage treatment plants and recycling of the residual waste water for flushing and gardening. All the buildings are energy-efficient and have a 3-star GRIHA rating. Further, there is provision for rain water harvesting and solar power generation, JIPMER said.
The second phase of expansion will include the construction of a 500-bed hospital at a cost of ₹450 crore. Work on it has been approved and will begin soon and should be completed in three years. This hospital will provide advanced healthcare services not only to the people of Karaikai region but also the neighbouring areas of Tamil Nadu, Jipmer Director Dr. Aggarwal said.
The Jipmer multi-speciality consulting unit in Yanam to supplement the Government General Hospital was also formally launched on the occasion.
Jipmer had, in 2021, decided to set up a Multi-specialty Consulting Unit there at a cost of ₹91 crore. Located on a 0.9-acre plot of land provided by the government, the unit has a 90-bed hospital, 20 ICU beds and three operation theatres.
The facility will provide services in selected broad specialties and superspecialties, including high-risk obstetrics, surgery, orthopaedics, nephrology including a dialysis unit, and non-interventional cardiology.
OPD, ultrasound and laboratory services have been initiated since December 2023, and other areas will start working soon as more staff is recruited, Dr. Aggarwal said.