Hyderabad, Aug 27: Hyderabad’s historic Osmania General Hospital will be relocated to Goshamahal as the Telangana government decided to construct a new building for the state’s oldest and biggest hospital.
Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy ordered that the new building with the state-of-art infrastructure be built on 32 acres land of the present Police Stadium and Sports Complex at Goshamahal, which is also a city landmark.
The present building of Osmania Hospital at Afzal Gunj near Musi River will be conserved as a heritage structure. The Chief Minister plans to preserve and restore the historic building as part of the proposed Musi Riverfront development project to attract tourists.
The old building of Osmania Hospital is in a dilapidated condition and there have been demands from people and also the hospital staff for several years to construct a new building.
A proposal by the previous government of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) to demolish the present building of Osmania Hospital to build new structure was strongly opposed by historians, heritage activists and concerned citizens, who had approached the High Court.
After Congress party came to power, it decided to preserve the old building and construct the new building at some other location.
Conceived after the Musi floods of 1908, the Osmania Hospital was built by Mir Osman Ali Khan, the last Nizam of Hyderabad State and named after him.
Designed by British architect Vincent Jerome Esch and Nawab Khan Bahadur Mirza Akbar Baig in the Indo-Sarcenic style, it was completed in 1919. Heritage experts say the domes of Osmania Hospital added to Hyderabad’s charms.
Spread over 26.5 acres, the hospital has 11 major blocks. The in-patient block alone was over an area of 2.37 acres with a total bed capacity of 1,168 beds including 363 in super-speciality wards.
The Chief Minister on Tuesday said officials have been asked to finalize an action plan for the construction of the new hospital building at the earliest.
The Chief Minister asked the authorities to immediately transfer the land, which is currently under the control of the Police Department, to the Medical and Health department and make arrangements for the construction of new building of Osmania Hospital.
The CM asserted that the design of new building should be finalized only after assessing the medical requirements for the next 50 years in the state. Road connectivity to the hospital should also be developed in four directions of the hospital so that people coming from different areas can reach the hospital without any traffic problems. Academic blocks, hostels for nursing staff and all other required departments will be constructed in the new hospital.
The CM suggested that all the medical departments and medical services should be available in the hospital premises on the lines of the corporate healthcare facility and also create pleasant open space apart from concrete buildings and multi-storied structures. He asked officials to hire experienced architects to prepare the hospital designs.
