Chief Minister to inaugurate upgraded Government Pentland Hospital in Vellore later this month
Chief Minister M.K. Stalin will inaugurate the upgraded British-era Government Pentland Hospital in Vellore on June 25. The Public Works Department (PWD) is renovating the facility into a multi super-specialty hospital.
PWD officials said the century-old facility had been upgraded into a seven-storey complex to meet the growing healthcare needs of residents within the Vellore Corporation limits. Principal Secretary to the Health and Family Welfare Department P. Senthil Kumar inspected the upgraded hospital in the presence of Collector V.R. Subbulaxmi on Saturday. 'The upgraded hospital has advanced equipment, especially for treating children and the elderly. Besides residents of Vellore town, people in neighbouring villages will benefit from the upgraded facility,' S. Padavettan, Assistant Engineer, PWD (Vellore), told The Hindu.
Spread over 25, 779 sq.ft, the multi super-specialty hospital has been built at a cost of ₹150 crore. More than one dozen dilapidated buildings in the hospital complex were demolished to construct the new facility for which work was started in 2023. The new facility has at least 568 beds for in-patients. The existing hospital is run in an old building with 125 beds.
The upgraded hospital has at least ten super specialties, including cardiology, neurology, nephrology, and obstetrics and gynaecology. It also has 10 surgical theatres with separate departments for plastic surgery. Separate wards for emergency and accident-related cases, cancer treatment, sedation, and x-ray rooms will also form part of the new facility.
Hospital authorities said the Government Pentland Hospital was started as a clinic in 1882 before being upgraded in 1915. It was inaugurated by the then Governor of Madras Pentland. During its heyday, the hospital served a large number of people in the region including those from tribal communities, traders, and British officers and Indian soldiers who were stationed at the Vellore Fort.
Over the years, the hospital was functioned as a taluk-level hospital after the Government Medical College Hospital was established on the outskirts of the town in 2005.
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