100-year-old Chitaguppi Hospital in Hubballi gets a modern makeover, new building to open this week

Hubballi: Chitaguppi Hospital in Hubballi has been redeveloped into a 100-bed facility with modern amenities under the smart city mission of the central government, officials said on Wednesday.

The hospital is likely to start functioning in the newly constructed building from this week, they stated. Under the smart city mission project, the century-old hospital now has a multi-speciality secondary care hospital with necessary amenities and a hygienic environment.

Earlier, it had the capacity of around 30 beds which was extended up to 60 in 2013 and later to 100 beds during the smart city project.

The hospital's central location - located adjacent to the Hubballi Dharwad Municipal Corporation - makes it accessible to people, they said.

Officials said there was a need to redevelop the hospital as it was very old with insufficient medical amenities and inadequate parking area - given it has a daily footfall of 300-400 for OPD and day care, officials said, adding that the renovated hospital was hygienic and spacious.

Meanwhile, the Belagavi Smart City Limited (BSCL) has constructed a 30-bed maternity hospital at Vantmuri and a 10-bed hospital primary health centre at Vadgaon, they said.

The BSCL has also provided a modular OT and an ambulance equipped with OT to the Belagavi Institute of Medical Science (BIMS) under the smart city mission, officials said.

Dr Ashok Kumar Shetty, Director of BIMS, said, "We are seeing around 1,500 patients daily and more than 1,000 are admitted here. We are utilising the modular operation theatres. Patients from several other districts come here for the treatment. Currently we have 1,040 beds in the hospital."

A new therapy centre at Mahatma Phule Garden has also been opened under the mission to provide comprehensive facilities for specially-abled children, officials said.

Named after educationist and social reformer Jyotirao Phule, the park is designed with "inclusiveness" as the main feature which aims to ease the life of children by providing them with customised therapy and play equipment, they said.

Roma Hasmani, a resident of Belagavi, said that she has been coming to the centre along with her 11-year-old daughter for the last two years. "After coming to the centre, my daughter has become more social and also getting acceptance in society," Hasmani said.

Syeda Afreen Bellary, CEO of Belagavi Smart City, said that work on 96 out of 102 projects under the mission that began in 2018 have been completed.

"Out of 930 crores, we have spent Rs 871 crore on the projects. The remaining six projects are ongoing which we are planning to be completed by February 2024," Bellary told a news agency.

"We have made a modular operation theatre in BIMS during COVID. We have advanced lifesaving ambulances and developed ICU with new equipment. We have also made smart classrooms in government schools," the official said.

"Similarly, we have created a therapy centre for specially-abled children at Mahatma Phule Garden where we work on three aspects. It is therapy based, education based and recreation based for specially-abled kids. We are having some innovative projects and we are working on it," Bellary said.