With land in hand, Nimhans starts work on 2nd campus

Facility in Bangalore North to reduce burden on South centre

 Work on the second campus of the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (Nimhans) has taken off, with the State government transferring 30 acres at Kyasanahalli, off Hennur and Outer Ring Road, Bangalore North, to it. 

The premier institute has been waiting for the land almost close to a year and more. Deccan Herald had reported on October 7, 2013 that Nimhans’ project to set up a polytrauma centre was getting delayed, waiting for the land transfer.

Dr P Satishchandra, Nimhans Director, told Deccan Herald, “Nimhans is now in physical possession of 30 acres of land. Not wanting to delay the project anymore, we have begun construction for the second campus. We are building a wall around the land. Once this is complete, construction of a polytrauma centre begins. The government has said it will grant the remaining 10 acres after reaching a settlement with local people. We have paid Rs 1 crore to the State government towards land cost. We will give Rs 2 crore more in the coming months.” 

Nimhans is in urgent need of land to begin construction of its Bangalore North campus to redu­ce pressure on the trauma and other treatment centres at the Bangalore South campus. Nimhans wants to start construction of its polytrauma centre (for treating injuries of different kinds) at the earliest as the present trauma centre is overcrowded, receiving around 130 people every day seeking immediate treatment.This translates to over 40,000 people being treated every year in just one area of treatment. Beds are always full at the emergency and trauma centre.

At least 10 per cent of the patients have to be referred to private hospitals. At 7 am, one can see around 200 people waiting for tokens to meet specialists. People come from as far as Raichur - booking a hotel room in Majestic and rushing to Nimhans. Medical staff at the existing trauma centre are forced to refer patients to private hospitals unable to treat people beyond a certain number.

Queues for admission are long and existing staff can only do what is humanly possible. If a high number of people approach the North campus, it not only reduces pressure on the existing centre by quarter to half but also ensure better attention for patients.

The Nimhans director says the number of people coming to the South campus has gone up by 30 per cent over the last three years. The work on second campus will have to be executed fast. Recruitment of medical staff, including specialists such as ortho doctors, psychiatrists, neurosurgeons and nursing staff is under consideration. The new centre will treat a range of injuries other than head injury - orthopaedic, facial, dental and internal injuries.

The crucial difference the centre will make is that people from North and North East Bangalore and suburban areas like Chikkaballapur, Doddaballapur and Hoskote can head straight to the North campus and cut travel to the South campus. People from Devanahalli, Nelamangala, Magadi, Ramanagar and Kanakapura also can head to the second campus, to be modelled on the Jayaprakash Narayan Centre attached to AIIMS, New Delhi.