The Kochi Co-operative Medical College and Hospital (KCMH), the Kerala Government owned self financing medical college and hospital which has been operating for the last three years at different hospitals and places in and around Kochi, will soon start functioning fully from its own 50 acre Kalamassery campus.

According to informed sources in Kochi, civil works of the 11 blocks are nearing completion, and the various departments functioning at the Indira Gandhi Co-Operative Hospital and the District General Hospital in Ernakulam are in the process of being shifted to the new campus. A formal inauguration is likely to happen soon after the Parliament elections in May, next month.

Then, the hospital will have facilities to accommodate 500 inpatients, 12 operation theatres, blood bank, ultra sound scan and CT scan facility. The departments of Gynecology, General Medicine, Paediatrics, Surgery and the outpatient department have already started functioning at the new building. The departments of ENT, Ophthalmology, Orthopaedics and Radio-diagnosis, a 30-bedded ICU, 24-hour causality and an operation theatre, besides 200 beds would be ready within a few weeks, said sources.

The Cooperative Academy of Professional Education (CAPE), a co-operative society floated under the chairmanship of the Kerala Chief Minister, is promoting the hospital and college project at an estimated spending of over Rs.52 crore. More than Rs. 35 crores has been spent on civil and construction work of the 11 blocks spread on more than 30 acres of land. The Ernakulam District Co-operative Bank has sanctioned a Rs. 80-crore loan for the completion of the project, and has already given more than Rs 30 crores. The Government has allotted Rs 20 crores towards repayment of the loan so far, and has to repay Rs 10 crores each during the next four years to the bank.

The Medical Council of India, which had denied approval for the college during its inspection for lack of enough facillities in accordance to the norms, is likely to inspect the new premises within the next two months. The authorities hope to have the college fully functional by that time.

The MCI had noted that the college was operating in various places, like classes held at one place, and clinical studies conducted at General Hospital, and the quarters for the students located at another place at the Kalamassery campus. The students of the college had approached the Kerala High Court against the inordinate delay in setting up the college at the proposed campus with enough infrastructure, and had resorted to agitation, many times during the last two years.