Hyderabad: Doctors Cry for New OGH Building

Hyderabad: The Telangana Government Doctors Association (TGDA) convened a round table conference at the Superintendent Seminar Hall on Tuesday to address the dire need for a new Osmania General Hospital (OGH) building.

The heritage building of OGH, originally established over a century ago by the Nizams, is said to be n bad shape. The current state of the building has raised significant concerns about patient safety and the hospital’s capacity to accommodate the growing patient population. Despite promises from the previous BRSgovernment to address these issues, tangible actions have yet to materialise.

Dr Ramesh Barigela, association founding president, highlighting the inadequacies of the existing structure, said: "The OGH building, both in terms of treatment capacity and physical space, is grossly insufficient. We were promised that it would be taken down, yet only drawings and unfulfilled promises have surfaced."

The association asked that when the new Secretariat building could be built despite legal challenges, why similar urgency wasn’t applied to the OGH’s requirements. The Heritage Act has been cited, with accusations that the government has not adhered to the procedures.

Dr Barigela and the association have proposed alternative sites for the new hospital building. They suggest utilising the Chanchalguda jail area and the adjacent government printing press, which together cover approximately 35 acres. Another proposal involves converting the Goshamahal Stadium into hospital premises, providing an additional 30 acres.

These sites, they argued, could be leveraged to construct a state-of-the-art facility capable of offering super-speciality services across various departments, requiring a total of 40 acres.

The round table conference was attended by Prof. M. Kodandaram, Dr N. Krishna Reddy, chairman of the OMC Alumni Trust, and Dr S. Krishna Murthy, secretary of the OMC Alumni Association. The discussions culminated in several key demands including demolition of the old heritage structure which occupies only six acres of the 26.5-acre site, and using the area for constructing a modern hospital.

The doctors called on the government to prioritise the health sector, stressing that the proposals put forth would not only preserve the legacy of Osmania Medical College but also enhance its capacity to serve as a premier medical institution nationwide.