The organ transplantation institute proposed to be set up by the Kerala government in Kozhikode will be designed to perform 1,200 corneal transplants, 500 kidney transplants, and 300 liver transplants, among others, in a year.
HLL Infratech Services Ltd. (HITES), a subsidiary of the public sector undertaking HLL Lifecare Ltd., which is the consultant for the project, has invited global tenders to appoint an architectural consultant for the venture. The tender will be closed on September 4. The estimated cost of the project is ₹500 crore. The work on the institute is expected to be completed in three-and-a-half years.
According to the project report prepared by HITES, the institute is proposed as a fully autonomous centre and a centre of excellence. There will be 15 speciality departments and divisions in the first phase and seven in the second phase. Thirty academic courses have been planned. The hospital is conceptualised as an apex centre to manage patients with all organ failures such as kidney failure, liver failure, and heart failure and to perform all transplants. Five years from its inception, the institute is expected to perform 15 intestinal transplants, 15 pancreas transplants, 50 heart transplants, 50 lung transplants, 120 bone marrow transplants and 300 soft tissue/digits/hands/bone/face transplants along with others transplants in a year.
It is assumed that the hospital will have 1.2 lakh outpatient (OP) visits a year at the end of one year and around 2.9 lakh OP visits at the end of seven years. There are also proposals to start super-speciality courses, post-doctoral fellowship courses, speciality nursing courses, transplant technician courses, and transplant coordinator courses.
A dedicated research facility with an aim to perform basic, translational and clinical research in all areas of transplantation, including transplant biology, transplantation medicine, cell therapy, stem cells, and transplant immunology too will be set up. There will be post-doctoral fellowships, PhD and MSc courses as well.
Till the new buildings are constructed, it is likely to function from the new block of the Government Medical College Hospital, Kozhikode. Around 20 acres of land near the Government Hospital for Dermatology at Chevayur in Kozhikode city have been reportedly identified for the project.
