A new medical college to begin at Ranchi Sadar Hospital

RANCHI: A new government-run-medical college cum hospital is likely to come up in Ranchi in the coming years. The State Ministry of Health, Medical College, and Family Welfare is pondering over converting the 500-bed super-specialty Ranchi Sadar Hospital into a medical college and hospital.

The idea to do this emerged after the Ministry received a note from the Ranchi University suggesting autonomy for Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS, Ranchi).

Additional Chief Secretary, (health) Sudhir Kumar Tripathi, speaking to the TOI said the suggestion was on the discussion table. "At present, the super-specialty facility is not being used to its maximum potential. The facility can accommodate 500 beds. If a government land within the vicinity can be used to house the academic buildings, the medical college cum hospital will be a reality."

As per Medical Council of India (MCI), guidelines, the distance between the hospital and academic wings of a medical college should not go beyond 10 kilometers. According to health ministry sources, there are plans to take over a portion of the current Ranchi University campus, once the academic departments move to the new campus being constructed in Cheri village of Kanke block. "The Sadar hospital complex and the RU campus are separated by a distance of less than a kilometer which perfectly fits the scheme of things," an official told TOI.

There is an attempt being made by the state government to build new medical colleges to end doctors' shortage in the state. New medical colleges have been announced in Koderma, Palamu Dumka, Hazaribag, and Bokaro in the past two years. At present, the three functional medical colleges in Dhanbad Ranchi, and Jamshedpur have 350 under-graduate medical seats.

The facility that has been lying unused since 2012 was opened partially as a maternity hospital, last summer after four failed attempts to run it in as a super-specialty unit, at affordable rates, under PPP mode.

Meanwhile, Dr S S Harijan, a Ranchi Civil Surgeon has been asked to prepare a detailed project report for setting up an intensive care unit by the State's Health Mission, Director. The maternity hospital has been functioning without an ICU ever since it was launched.