Sambalpur: The process to modernise the Cancer department in VSS Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (VIMSAR) at Burla here got a boost after the Odisha government sanctioned Rs35 crore for its upgradation and renovation, a report said. It stated that initially the Odisha Cancer Care Foundation (OCCF) and Tata Trust had jointly planned to renovate the department at VIMSAR into a modern cancer hospital. However, both the organisations withdrew from the initiative six months for reasons unknown.
Later, the Odisha government stepped in to provide better healthcare facilities to cancer patients and sanctioned Rs 35 crore for the modernisation of the hospital.
This development was confirmed by VIMSAR, director Professor Lalit Meher. He said the process has been initiated to modernize and upgrade the cancer department of the hospital into a modern healthcare facility. The hospital is expected to become operational within next three months if things work out as per plan.
Professor Meher further said that the present cancer department is a 30-bed facility which will be upgraded into a 100-bed hospital. A five-storied building will be constructed for the new hospital which will have separate facilities for chemotherapy treatment.
The hospital will also have a medical linear accelerator machine which will help in the treatment of patients with tumors. The Odisha government will bear all the expenses for infrastructure development and for ancillary equipment of the hospital for which a process has been initiated at the government level. A letter has been dispatched in this regard.
Notably, patients of the Western Odisha and of neighbouring Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand depend on VIMSAR hospital for their healthcare requirements for which demands have been made earlier for establishment of full-fledged cancer hospital. The state government took note of the matter in 2017 and launched the process for upgradation and modernization of the cancer department in VIMSAR.