KOCHI: A three-member team comprising Health Secretary Dr K. Elangovan, Kochi cancer centre special officer V.P. Gangadharan and Thiruvananthapuram Regional Cancer Centre Director Dr Paul Sebastian visited the buildings under possession of the Ernakulam Government Medical College on Thursday to identify a building to start the out-patient wing of the Kochi cancer centre.
The team selected a building which is now being constructed to house the payward of the medical college, after inspecting three buildings.
Since the contractor of the building had gone to court over the pending payment for the work done so far, the same will be disbursed to him first to free it from legal hassles.
The engineering department attached to the medical college has been asked to prepare an estimate for the completion of the rest of the work on the building by incorporating the modifications needed for the OP wing.
“Since it was being constructed to house the payward, some changes have to be made to the structure to make it suitable for the OP section. The Kerala State Construction Corporation Limited will complete the construction. We will have to get the government sanction for the amount to be spent for completing the construction. The cabinet has to approve the offer for Rs 10 crore from the coffers of Kerala State Beverages Corporation offered by the Excise Minister. Once funds are available, nothing stands in the way of starting the cancer centre,” said Dr Elangovan.
He expected to start the OP in November but he did not make any commitment to start it on Novemebr 1.
He also said that the team comprising Dr Gangadharan, Dr Paul Sebastian and Asha Thomas, managing director of Kerala Books and Publishing Society, who was appointed liaison officer of the cancer centre by the cabinet on Wednesday from the IAS cadre, will sit and chart a blueprint for starting the OP with facilities for diagnosis, pharmacy, lab, medical oncology and surgical oncology wings and will decide the staff pattern.
Dr Elangovan said that the law department had approved the proposal to set up a society to head the cancer centre to which the Ernakulam District Co-operative Bank will lend a loan.
“We hope to complete the construction of the cancer centre in two-three years,” he said. The appointment of Asha Thomas as liaison officer has also brightened the chances of materializing the cancer centre at the earliest. This has been a long-standing demand of the people to push the work.
