Date:21/07/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/07/21/stories/2006072125170400.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Bowring hospital to be upgraded

Staff Reporter

It will be modernised in two phases at a cost of Rs. 63 crore

BANGALORE: The Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital will be modernised at a cost of Rs. 63 crore in two phases.

Medical Education Minister V.S. Acharya and Public Works Minister H.D. Revanna, inspected the hospital on Thursday and discussed plans to develop two multi-storeyed blocks in the hospital. Some of the blocks in the hospital were built in 1884 and are in poor condition. Upgrading the hospital building is part of the Union Government project to bring hospitals to standards of the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi. The Centre would meet 15 per cent of the cost of the project and the rest would be borne by the Public Works Department.

In the first phase of the project, which is estimated to cost around Rs. 40 crore, the urology department and the orthopaedic department would be brought down for building a multi-storeyed in-patient block, said Superintendent of Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital Rajeev Shetty. The beds in the hospital would be increased by 150. At present, the bed strength is 668, which is inadequate. In the second phase of the project, a nursing college, staff quarters and hostel would be constructed. The projected cost was Rs. 23 crore. An underground parking lot with a capacity for 300 cars would also be built.