Harsh Vardhan inaugurates Super Speciality Trauma Centre at VIMS, Karnataka

New Delhi [India], Aug 31 (ANI): Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Monday digitally inaugurated the Super Speciality Trauma Centre (SSTC) at Vijayanagar Institute of Medical Sciences (VIMS) in Karnataka's Ballari.
"This trauma centre has state of the art Operation Theatres and dedicated departments. I would like to felicitate all who put effort into this," Vardhan said during the event.
As per an official release, the SSTC is built with an investment of Rs 150 crores under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY).
The SSTC has departments of emergency and trauma, neurosurgery and orthopedics. This new block is consists of 8 operation theaters including 6 modular ones, 200 super-specialty beds, 72 ICU beds, 20 ventilators and the aforementioned state-of-the-art CT scan and digital x-ray machine. This facility will have a training capacity of 27 PG students, the release said.
The third phase of PMSSY was announced after 2019 and Ballari got its trauma centre within a year, Vardhan said.
"The work for the 74 medical colleges to be opened in the aspirational districts is in full swing. A new AIIMS for Karnataka is under active consideration and four medical colleges are being built, in Chikkamagaluru, Haveri, Yadgir and Chikkaballapur. So far, 157 medical colleges have been opened with Central financing and local monitoring by the State administration," Vardhan informed.
Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Minister of State, Health and Family Welfare inaugurated the Express Feeder Line, ICU wards and the 13KL Liquid Medical Oxygen Tank of the facility, while Dr K Sudhakar, Minister of Medical Education in Karnataka government inaugurated the state-of-the-art CT Scan that is capable of taking 128 cross-section slices.
Meanwhile, Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa requested the Union Health Minister to consider upgrading the ESI Hospital in Gulbarga to AIIMS so that people of the region are better served. (ANI)