PANAJI (Goa) Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar today laid foundation stone for 500-bed super-speciality block at the Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMC), Bambolim.

Spread across an area of 52,530 sq mtrs, the total cost of the project is Rs 386 crore. It is going to be the state-of-the art IT enabled first paperless hospital to be commissioned in next one and half year.

The ten floor building will have ten operational theaters with as many as 11 super specialties to be performed which include endocrinology, nephrology, urology, neurology, medical gastroenterology, pediatric surgery, plastic surgery, neuro-surgery, CTVS, cardiology and surgical gastroenterology.

The project, funded under the Pradhan Mantri Swathaya Suraksha Yojana, is executed by HSCC (India), a government of India enterprise.

The proposed facility would enhance the present super specialty facilities with 22 additional post graduation seats to present two available.

Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister that once the new block commences operation in next one and half year, the GMC will virtually become medical hub of topmost quality.

Health Minister Vishwajit Rane claimed that the project is one of the biggest under the Pradhan Mantri Swathaya Suraksha Yojana. “The facility is going to change the narration of State of Goa in health sector,” he said.