Gokula Education Foundation's MS Ramaiah Memorial Hospital with its new facility with 650-bed and a Rs 70-crore medical centre will be the first super speciality hospital for Bangalore north when it opens in mid-July.

The seven-storey facility will boast features like a film-less radiography unit, an in-house police room at the accident trauma wing to investigate the accident causes and is also linked to the comprehensive trauma care (CTC) service, which is a hospital network for accident cases in Bangalore and a landscaped garden on the second floor.

The state-of-art, sprawling, well-lit and aesthetically-designed complex located on the existing campus of Ramaiah Medical College Hospital will offer all medical specialities like nephrology, neurology, cardiology, oncology, accident trauma, women & child healthcare. There will be six operation theatres, 20 beds in critical care unit and 80 beds in the ICU. The first phase of the project, which will have 300 beds has already begun offering outpatient services in dialysis and radiology. Although the hospital is still getting final touches, the departments of nephrology and radiology commenced out patient services two-weeks ago.

The new hospital will utilise the services of the panel of doctors in the existing hospital and has also identified a panel of consultants.

While the departments of accident-trauma, nephrology, radiology and pathology are located conveniently on the ground floor, first floor houses a modern blood bank, full-fledged neurosciences and cardiology departments. The second floor which is allocated for wards also has a unique picturesque landscaped zone for cardiac and neuro surgery patients to stroll around as a part of the recovery programme. "The remaining floors are dedicated to other medical specialities," stated Dr. Naresh Shetty, medical director, MS Ramaiah Memorial Hospital who added that the corporate hospital intends to provide treatment at an affordable cost.

The hospital, which is strategically located in the vicinity of the NH 7, NH-4 and the Ring Road in north Bangalore has prioritised its objectives to offer accident trauma, emergency medicine along with other medical specialities, stated BR Prabhakara, chief executive, MS Ramaiah Memorial Hospital. The accident trauma wing has a police room to investigate the accident causes and is also linked to the comprehensive trauma care (CTC) service, which is a hospital network for accident cases in Bangalore. The trauma centre has demarcated areas like Triage where the severity of the injury is diagnosed after which the cases are shifted to Resuscitation, or sterile zone for serious cases. The facility has an emergency ward of 10 beds, a dedicated operation theatre and a recovery room.

Another priority of the hospital is to offer advanced diagnostics and the facility is designed to be patient-friendly for services like pathology and radiology.

The hospital has teamed up with the Mumbai-based ISO 9002 Metropolis Laboratories, one of the largest referral laboratories in India to outsource the expertise.

The radiology department is equipped with the country's first-ever film-less radiography unit from Kodak, USA, costing Rs. 75 lakh. The new equipment, DV 8200, could however lead to a marginally higher cost of treatment but has advantages of quality images, reduced risk of radiation, archived data, and saves time, stated Dr. MG Srinath, professor and head, department of Radio-Diagnostics.

The new hospital is a upgraded facility and the existing Ramaiah hospital attached to its Medical College would now subsidise charges and also offer treatment for special cases free of cost, said BR Prabhakara.