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In a major development in the area of research and innovation for healthcare, the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) is setting up an 800-bed facility within its campus on a total of 25 acres to set up the Bagchi-Parthasarathy Hospital. The advanced digitally driven medical centre will integrate science, engineering and medicine under a single roof.
The hospital has received the funding of Rs 425 crore for the project, designed by the Ahmedabad-based architect Archi Medes (I) Consultants where philanthropists Susmita and Subroto Bagchi, chairman, Odisha Skill Development Authority along with Radha and NS Parthasarathy, managing partner, Mela Ventures provided the financial assistance.
So far, this is the largest single donation in the history of IISc after its founding. It was also finalized in a record time of one week from start to finish over 3 meetings, said Prof. Govindan Rangarajan, director, Indian Institute of Science adding that the ground-breaking is planned for June 2022 and the hospital will be operational by the end of 2024.
This is in sync with the global trend to integrate science, engineering and medicine as a single institution as there will also be a postgraduate medical school along with a multi-speciality hospital at existing Bengaluru campus on similar lines that of Harvard.
“Our vision is to seamless connect clinical sciences, basic sciences, and engineering technology disciplines, to enable cross-disciplinary training and research opportunities for the students. We hope that this creates a new template for institution building in India, particularly in medical research. It will be a hub for translation medical technology and incubator start-ups’, said Prof. Rangarajan.
Taking full advantage of the co-location with the science and engineering faculty and labs, the academic initiative will provide an integrated dual degree MD-PhD programme in 7 to 8 specializations. As per the National Medical Commission norms, students admitted in specific MD/MS and DM/MCh programmes will be trained in the hospital with their classroom and laboratory training at IISc. Our objective is to create a new breed of physician-scientists, who will pursue careers in clinical research to develop novel treatments options driven by a bench-to-bedside and vice versa intent. Further our focus is research and innovation for affordable healthcare, stated Prof. Navakanta Bhat, Dean, Division of Interdisciplinary Sciences, IISc.
The impact of the IISc Medical School and Bagchi-Parthasarathy Hospital would go beyond science and solutions. It is expected to set the tone for sustainable health goals and policies for the nation, and serve as a model of clinical research and training that can be emulated nationwide. We view this endeavour will be a game-changer in addressing India’s future healthcare, stated Prof. Usha Vijayraghavan, Dean, Division of Biological Sciences, IISc.
The Bagchi-Parthasarathy Hospital’s clinical and surgical departments will facilitate comprehensive treatment across oncology, cardiology, neurology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, nephrology, urology, dermatology and plastic surgery, organ transplant, robotic surgery, ophthalmology, and so on. The hospital will also implement digital technologies like Artificial Intelligence among others for integrated electronic medical records, telemedicine suite with haptics interfaces. The medical college starts in 2025 will have 70 faculty hired in 2024 with 70 students where fee is government prescribed.
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