The Government Medical College and Employees' State Insurance (ESI) Hospital in Coimbatore is set to establish a separate nursing college starting this academic year.
The hospital has sought permission from the state government to allocate seats for the new college.
According to Dr M Raveendran, the dean of the Government Medical College and ESI Hospital, the request includes 100 seats: 60 for BSc Nursing and 40 for Post Basic BSc Nursing, which is available for those who have completed a Diploma in Nursing at the medical college.
Dr Raveendran said, "There has not been any newly established government nursing colleges in Tamil Nadu in the last four years. We have been requesting the government to establish a nursing college at Coimbatore ESI because we have sufficient infrastructure. We expect it to commence this year. Currently, we are managing 100 MBBS and five MD seats at the ESI Medical College."
He explained about the available infrastructure, noting that they have a building ready to house the nursing college.
"A separate block, which was previously abandoned, was renovated before the COVID-19 pandemic after I took charge as dean. This block helped us accommodate a larger number of patients during the pandemic. Once we receive approval for nursing studies, the entire block can be utilized for that purpose. Additionally, we have the necessary faculty in place. When the government allocates seats, it will ensure a minimum level of faculty strength," Dr Raveendran said.
According to sources, the campus encompasses 38 acres, including both the hospital and the college, which operates with a capacity of 510 beds. Recently, officials from the health department visited the medical college hospital to assess the infrastructure facilities required to support the nursing college.
Unlike regular government hospitals, the ESI hospital offers only limited services, such as emergency care for 48 hours and vaccination administration.
After considerable effort, the Government Medical College and ESI Hospital became the first ESI hospital in the country to establish an autopsy facility on its premises. The forensic medicine department began conducting postmortems here on July 22, 2022.
Following this achievement, the institution is now striving to introduce nursing studies as another milestone and it will be a second government nursing college in Coimbatore district.
