Andhra Pradesh Governor Surjeet Singh Barnala has appealed to doctors to find ways and means to provide medical aid to the poor at an affordable cost and to develop a sense of willingness to serve the remote and inaccessible areas for the benefit of the less fortunate.

Speaking at the Founders' Day celebrations of Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) after 17 years of glorious service, the Governor also told the doctors to spare some time to hold periodic health check-up camps in order to detect diseases early so that several lives could be saved. He said India was a big country where government efforts alone would not be sufficient to meet the health needs of its vast population. The involvement of voluntary organisations was not only welcome but also desirable, the Governor said.

He said WHO had defined health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” Regular exercise, simple habits, positive thinking, temperance and avoidance of over-exertion were the prescription for preserving good health.

Complimenting NIMS for its service, the Governor said it lived up to the dreams of the late NTR by becoming a medical institute of excellence in the country.

Health Minister Dr Kodela Sivaprasada Rao, who is also the Chairman of the Executive Body of NIMS, said the Institute continued to be the last hope of patients, especially those belonging to the poorer sections. He described the Institute as a beacon light, offering services in a record number of 25 specialities. The hospital had 820 beds and about 7,000-8,000 outpatients were treated every day. He said the government would work towards improving the post-graduate college started six months ago.

The Minister announced that they had plans to add new wards and promote health tourism in the state with public-private partnership with the goal to make AP 'a health destination'. He complimented NIMS Director, Dr Kakerla Subba Rao, for his dedicated service and making it one of the best medical institutes in the country. He asked the doctors to draw inspiration from the founders and their predecessors, but for whose sacrifice and foresight NIMS would not have come up.

Dr Subba Rao made a power-point presentation tracing the history of the Institute right from its establishment as Nizam's Orthopedic Hospital in 1964 under the Nizam's Charity Trust and down to its being made a Deemed University by NTR. The Nizam's Orthopedic Hospital was taken over by the government of Andhra Pradesh in the year 1976 to develop it into a speciality hospital. In 1980 it was renamed as Nizam's Orthopedics and Specialities under Chief Minister Vengal Rao in 1980. Chief Minister M Chenna Reddy floated the idea of making it an Institute of Medical Sciences and appointed Dr D Bhaskar Reddy as Director. In 1986, NTR transformed it into Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences with an autonomous status. His dream of developing it into an institute of excellence and an ideal teaching and training centre was fulfilled when it was conferred the status of Deemed University by an Act of Legislature that came into force in June 1989.

Dr Subba Rao said the Institute had grown from 250 beds to 820 beds now. The staff had increased from 500 to 2,700 and the budget had bulged from Rs 4.5 crore to Rs 75 crore. Modern buildings, latest MRI and other equipment, Gamma cameras, new specialities and better services to patients had been introduced. More than 350 graduates had already gone out of its campus. A college of nursing, a college of physiotherapy and college of diabetology had been running successfully, Dr Subba Rao said.

Dr Shantaram, Dean of the Institute, proposed a proposed a vote of thanks. Earlier, the Governor felicitated several personalities for their contribution to NIMS, directly or indirectly. Among them were the former Health Ministers K Rosaiah and S Aruna, Dr Soma Raju and Dr D Prasada Rao, Managing Director and Director respectively of CARE Hospital who started their career in cardiology at NIMS, Dr Bhaskar Reddy, former Director of NIMS.