Work on British-era government Pentland Hospital into multi-super specialty facility on fast track

Upgradation of British-era Government Pentland Hospital into multi-super specialty hospital in Vellore town nearing completion.

Work on the upgradation of the British-era Government Pentland Hospital into a multi-super specialty hospital in Vellore town is in full swing with more than 75 % of the total work having been completed.

Officials of Public Works Department (PWD), which is executing the multi-crore project, said that the upgraded facility would be a seven-storey complex in its existing premises that would cater to health needs of residents within Vellore Corporation limits. “Most of the structural works of the upgraded facility have been completed. Entire work will be completed by March 2025,” said S. Padavettan, Assistant Engineer (AE), PWD (Vellore), told The Hindu.

On Thursday, Minister for Public Works, Highways and Minor Ports E.V. Velu inspected the on-going work of the new facility in the presence of Vellore Collector V.R. Subbulaxmi and Mayor Sujatha Anandakumar.

Spread on 25, 779 sq.ft, the multi super specialty hospital is being built at a cost of ₹150 crore. More than one dozen dilapidated buildings in the hospital complex were demolished to construct the new facility for which work was started over a year ago. The new facility will have at least 568 beds for in-patients as against existing 125 beds at the hospital complex.

The new facility will have at least ten super specialties, including cardiology, neurology, nephrology and obstetrics and gynaecology. It will also have ten surgical theatres with separate departments for plastic surgery. Separate wards for emergency and accident related cases, cancer treatment, sedation and x-ray rooms will also form part of the new facility. 

Tracing its history, PWD officials said that the hospital was started as a clinic in 1882 before it was upgraded into a hospital in 1915. The then Governor of Madras Pentland inaugurated the hospital. During its splendour years, the hospital served a large section of people in the region.

Over the years, the hospital was functioning as a taluk level hospital after the Government Medical College Hospital was established on the outskirts of the town in 2005. The upgradation of the hospital into a multi super specialty facility is a major effort to revive its rich past in meeting the health needs of the residents, PWD officials said.