The COVID-19 pandemic, which has paralysed the nation’s economy, has nevertheless, galvanised some state governments to go for the much-needed expansion of public health care services.

In Telangana, where COVID-19 cases are piling up, the Chandrasekhar Rao government has readied a 1500-bedded hospital in Gachibowli, the IT hub of Hyderabad, in about three weeks, making use of a sports complex building.

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The 14-storied facility with about 540 rooms would serve as a COVID-19 hospital beginning from Monday.

However, Chief Minister Rao has on Sunday announced that the hospital would continue to offer quality medical care as Telangana Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (TIMS), “a premium government hospital” on the lines of AIIMS in Delhi and Nizams Institute of Medical Sciences in central Hyderabad.

“Our government had planned to build four super specialty hospitals on four sides of Hyderabad. While AIIMS has come up one side (Bibinagar to East of Hyderabad), the Gachibowli hospital would serve this side (West),” Rao said.

The state government has allocated the sports complex building and the adjacent surplus land to the medical department, with the intention of upgrading it to a multi-specialty hospital with 750 general and 750 specialty beds and an attached post graduate medical college, CM said.

TIMS, once operational as envisaged, is expected to ease the patient numbers at Osmania, Gandhi, NIMS etc., state run hospitals.

While in Andhra Pradesh, the Jaganmohan Reddy government has announced an overhaul of the health infrastructure in the state with Rs 16,000 crore. Under the head – Naadu, Nedu (Then and Now) the money would be used for construction of new medical colleges, and building, repairs and development of village clinics, PHCs, area hospitals, and district-level hospitals, CMO officials said.

The two Telugu states are reeling under the incessant COVID-19 cases. As on Monday morning, Telangana has 858 total cases, while in Andhra Pradesh the cumulative number is 722.