New Delhi, March 15 The Delhi government will integrate three major public hospitals to create an autonomous medical institute on the lines of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), according to an official statement issued on Sunday.
The integration will merge Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, the Delhi State Cancer Institute, and Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital into what the government described as a "super medical hub", the statement said.
The announcement followed a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Rekha Gupta at the Delhi Secretariat, and was attended by Health Minister Pankaj Kumar Singh.
The initiative seeks to modernize Delhi's public healthcare system by ensuring more scientific and efficient utilization of existing medical resources, the statement said.
Integrating the institutions will allow better use of doctors, specialists, medical equipment, and infrastructure while ensuring patients receive more organized and advanced treatment, it said.
According to the statement, the proposal was also prompted by the uneven distribution of patient load across government hospitals in the capital.
Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital has a total capacity of 650 beds, but only around 250 beds are currently operational, leaving nearly 400 beds unused, it said.
In contrast, Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital is handling patient numbers beyond its sanctioned capacity of about 1,400 beds and is currently operating with more than 1,500 beds in use, the statement said.
The hospital records over 14 lakh outpatient department (OPD) visits, and nearly 95,000 patients receive inpatient department (IPD) treatment every year, it added.
Meanwhile, the Delhi State Cancer Institute records around 1.27 lakh OPD patients annually, while Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital sees nearly 2.87 lakh OPD visits, according to the statement.
Once integrated, super-speciality services will be distributed systematically across the hospitals to ensure patients receive appropriate specialist treatment, it said.
Under the proposed plan, Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital will focus on cardiology, pulmonology, gastroenterology, gastrointestinal surgery, nephrology, urology, rheumatology, and clinical haematology.
The Delhi State Cancer Institute will function as the primary hub for cancer care, consolidating services such as radiation oncology, surgical oncology, nuclear medicine, palliative care, and radio-imaging, the statement said.
Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital will continue strengthening departments such as orthopaedics, internal medicine, ENT, general surgery, neurosurgery, endocrinology, and ophthalmology, it added.
The statement also noted that several hospitals currently possess advanced medical equipment that remains underutilised due to shortages of specialised staff and fragmented services.
For instance, Rajiv Gandhi Hospital has bronchoscopy facilities as well as a cath lab and echo lab, the Delhi State Cancer Institute houses a linear accelerator used for radiotherapy, while Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital has a bone bank facility, it said.
In a related development, the statement said the Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences (IHBAS) will be developed on the lines of the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences in Bengaluru.
The institute will be expanded and developed as a national-level centre for mental health and neurosciences, informally referred to as 'NIMHANS-2', it said.
Around 75 acres of vacant land on the IHBAS campus will be transferred to Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital for the development of the integrated medical institute, according to the statement.
The IHBAS campus spans across 111.69 acres, of which the existing hospital building occupies about 19.9 acres, it added.
Several structures within the campus are old and in a dilapidated condition and will gradually be replaced with modern healthcare infrastructure, the statement said.
The land will also be used to develop hostels, advanced laboratories including pathology and biochemistry labs, as well as auditoriums and lecture theatres to strengthen medical education and training, the statement said.