Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute to add 200 beds by April

New Delhi: City-based Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute & Research Centre is planning to add 200 beds in its existing super-speciality hospital by April 2019 at an investment of about Rs 200 crore, a senior official has said.

The hospital currently has 302 beds, eight major and three minor operation theatres to provide tertiary cancer care to the patients.

"We will be adding 200 more beds by April 2019 as we are in the process of expansion. We will also be adding six more operation theatres during this period," Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute & Research Centre (RGCIRC) CEO D S Negi told .

The investment for adding 200 beds will be about Rs 200 crore as usually one bed requires expenditure of Rs one crore, he added.

When asked about how the expansion would be funded, Negi said: "It will be through internal accruals. We have some savings as the surplus income the hospital generates and that will be ploughed back in its infrastructure development".

The aim is to provide cancer patients affordable care of international standards, he added.

The institute has also tied up with US based Fox Chase Cancer Centre that provides access to their medical expertise and advance care facilities.

Apart from the main hospital, Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute & Research Centre also has an extension centre in South Delhi with 27 beds, primarily catering to day-care patients and emergency services, Negi said.

Founded in 1996, Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute & Research Centre is a unit of not for profit Indraprastha Cancer Society. It provides super specialised tertiary care services in medical, surgical and radiation oncology.