State-of-the-art organ transplant centre in Kozhikode soon

Kozhikode: Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan will lay the foundation stone for Kerala Institute of Organ and Tissue Transplantation, billed as the first dedicated facility for organ transplant in the country, at Chevayoor in Kozhikode on Saturday. Kozhikode North MLA Thottathil Ravindran said that the state-of-the-art facility is being set up with the objective of bringing all activities related to organ transplantation and all types of transplant surgeries under one roof. Ravindran also said that the institute would help reduce the cost of transplantation to one-third. District collector Snehil Kumar Singh said that the hospital will be constructed on a 20-acre plot within the premises of the skin diseases hospital at Chevayoor using KIIFB funds and will function as a comprehensive centre for all organ transplants. The hospital will be built in two phases, with the cost of the first phase estimated at Rs 299 crore. An additional Rs 99 crore has been earmarked for equipment. In the first phase, the hospital will have 350 beds, including ICU and HDU facilities, a dialysis centre, and 10 operation theatres. There will be 14 specialty departments and divisions. The hospital will be constructed as an eight-storey building. The institute will also function as a training centre for doctors and paramedical staff in the field of transplantation, as well as a research centre. Plans are in place to offer 31 academic courses. The hospital aims to annually perform 1,100 cornea transplants, 520 kidney transplants, 320 liver transplants, 15 intestinal transplants, 15 pancreas transplants, 50 heart transplants and 40 lung transplants, among other transplants.