Tata Steel to fund eye hospital in Ganjam

Tata Steel would fund the setting up of a 100-bed super speciality eye care hospital at Samarjhola under Hinjilicut block in Ganjam district. The hospital would be operated by Chennai-based Sankara Eye Hospital.

The steel maker today signed a grant agreement with the eye care service provider in the presence of state health minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak. The agreement was signed by Arun Misra, vice president, Tata Steel's Gopalpur project and S Visvanathan, trustee and secretary, Sankara Eye Hospital.

According to the agreement, Tata Steel would extend financial support of Rs 42.3 crore as grant for construction of the proposed eye hospital and the required infrastructure including equipment to be built on 4.5 acres of land at Samarjhola.
 

"The construction of the hospital is expected to begin soon. We hope that the hospital would start running by March next year. Our objective is to extend modern day healthcare at affordable cost. We believe that this initiative will spur similar hospitals across Odisha," said Misra.

Tata Steel is also setting up 500 bed and 200 bed multi-specialty hospitals at Gopalpur and Kalinganagar respectively, with a view to providing people in the region access to quality healthcare. Its healthcare interventions through its hospitals in Joda, Sukinda, other health centres, mobile health units and health camps enables Tata Steel to reach out to more than 400,000 patients in Odisha every year.

"With the world class equipment and highly qualified surgeons, Sankar Eye Hospital will offer services comparable to the best corporate hospitals at a fraction of their costs," said Visvanathan.

Sankara Eye Hospital will run the proposed hospital which will have facilities like comprehensive eye Care, investigations and outpatient treatment, low vision clinic, contact lens clinic, special clinic for children, micro phaco cataract surgeries for spectacle free vision, and glaucoma services.