Tuni Area Hospital gets Rs 1.25 Cr advanced medical laboratory
Kakinada, Sept 12 (TNT): The Tuni Area Hospital has been equipped with an advanced medical laboratory at a cost of Rs 1.25 crore, enabling free testing for 130 varieties of medical investigations, District Collector M. N. Harendhira Prasad said on Saturday.
Speaking at the virtual inauguration of the facility, the Collector said samples from Tuni were earlier being sent to Kakinada, Visakhapatnam or Vijayawada for testing, resulting in delays in obtaining reports.
With the new laboratory, advanced tests can now be conducted at the hospital itself, benefiting people in Tuni and surrounding areas, he said.
The Tuni laboratory is among 12 Integrated Public Health Laboratories and 10 Critical Care Blocks established in Andhra Pradesh under funds from the Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission.
The facilities were virtually inaugurated on Saturday by the Union Health Minister along with Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu from Vijayawada.
Collector Harendhira Prasad and Tuni MLA and Government Chief Whip Yanamala Divya participated in the programme from Tuni.
Yanamala Divya said the facility was part of the coalition government’s efforts to realise Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu’s vision of a “Happy, Healthy and Wealthy Andhra Pradesh”.
She said the hospital was already providing around 100 basic medical tests free of cost and the new laboratory would add 34 critical and advanced investigations. These include tests for cancer diagnosis, childhood cancers, blood cancers, breast cancer among women, thyroid disorders and critical culture tests, she said.
The MLA said the Collector had also responded to her request for renovation of the old hospital building and sanctioned Rs 2.3 crore from Hospital Development Society funds.
Reconstruction of the blood bank, establishment of a special ophthalmology unit with an attached operation theatre on the first floor, and modernisation of five wards were under way and expected to be completed by March next year, after which the facilities would become operational, she added.
DCHS Dr Maheswar Rao, APMSIDC Executive Engineer Rathnaraju, DE Srinivasa Chakravarthy and GGH Special Deputy Collector Sridhar were among those present.
TNT TMR
