200 more beds, six OTS to come up at Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute
NEW DELHI: Seeking to cater more services to the rising number of patients in the national capital and neighbouring region, State's premier cancer hospital, Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute, is set to add 200 more beds in its existing super-speciality hospital by April 2019 with an investment of Rs 200 crore.
Currently the hospital is running with the bed strength of 302 beds, eight major and three minor operation theaters to provide tertiary cancer care to the patients.
"We will also be adding six more operation theatres during this period," Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute and Research Centre (RGCIRC) CEO DS Negi said.
The investment for adding 200 beds will be about Rs 200 crore as usually one bed requires expenditure of Rs 1 crore, he added. When asked about how the expansion would be funded, Negi said: "It will be through internal accruals. We have some savings as the surplus income the hospital generates and that will be ploughed back in its infrastructure development". The aim is to provide cancer patients affordable care of international standards, he added.
The institute has also tied up with US based Fox Chase Cancer Centre that provides access to their medical expertise and advance care facilities.
Apart from the main hospital, the institute also has an extension centre in South Delhi with 27 beds, primarily catering to day-care patients and emergency services, Negi said.
“We have set up the South Delhi centre to cater to the pressing need for our services in this part of the National capital region,” Negi said.
Cancer cases in Delhi have seen a rapid rise since 2008-09. According to the Indian Council of Medical Research, cancer cases in India are expected to jump from around 14 lakh in 2016 to over 17.3 lakh by 2020.