Kozhikode | Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday inaugurated the newly built Surgical Super Specialty Block of Kozhikode Government Medical College at a function held here.

Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Mansukh Mandavya presided over the function via video conferencing.

The new block is set up under PHASE-III of Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana.

Started in 1957, the hospital caters to tertiary health care in seven neighbouring districts. The super specialty building having an area of 2.57 lakh square feet is set up within 273 acres of a college campus with a project cost of Rs 195.93 crore, which includes Rs 120 crore as Central Government share and Rs 75.93 crore as State Government share.

The seven-storey hospital has 500 beds which include 190 ICU beds along with nineteen Modular operation theatres and equipment like C-Arm, MRI, CT scan, CSSD, and multi-organ transplant facilities. This will add facilities for five Surgical Super Specialty Departments, Emergency Medicine and Anaesthesiology.

Departments such as Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, Neurosurgery, Surgical Gastroenterology, Urology & Renal Transplantation Surgery, Plastic Surgery, Emergency Medicine, Anaesthesiology and Accident and Emergency will function in the new building.

Inaugurating the new block, the Chief Minister said the facility will help the common people to get better modern treatment.

In his address, Mandavya said the seven storeyed facility with 500 beds including 190 ICU beds will cater to the tertiary health care needs of not only Kozhikode but neighbouring districts too.

He said the Central government was working in convergence with the Kerala government through several initiatives.

"The completion of this super specialty block set up under PHASE-III of Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) at Government Medical College, Kozhikode is an excellent example of this vibrant cooperative federalism among Union Government and the State government," the Union Minister said.