Mangaluru : The Lady Goschen new hospital will be open to public in two months, about 90% of the work on the new block of Lady Goschen Hospital is complete and the hospital will be ready for inauguration in the next two months, said MP Nalin Kumar Kateel.

He was addressing reporters after reviewing the work on the hospital premises in Mangaluru on Monday.

The work on the new complex of the hospital is in progress for the last five years. The work was marred by delay in-between. But, it accelerated after the visit of Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. The hospital will be one among the best hospitals in the state, built with CSR grants, in terms of infrastructure.

The MP said that the new building has been built with the CSR fund of Rs 23.2 crore contributed by Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL) and Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC). Recently, Rs 1.5 crore was released by the MRPL for the purchase of furniture and equipment. Kateel hoped that the hospital will benefit patients across the state. At present, the finishing work on the fifth and sixth floors is going on and the entire work is expected to get completed within the next two months. Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan will inaugurate the new hospital complex.

He thanked MRPL and ONGC for associating with the government towards providing toilet and other facilities in schools in the rural areas of the district.

It may be recalled that a portion of the 169-year-old government hospital was demolished in 2011 to facilitate the construction, when a donor provided Rs 18 crore for the construction of a new multi-storeyed building. The then chief minister B S Yeddyurappa had laid the foundation stone in April 2011. However, the work failed to take off. Later, under CSR activities of MRPL and ONGC, the work on the new building commenced in 2013.

MRPL managing director H Kumar, MRPL Group general manager B H V Prasad and Lady Goschen Hospital superintendent Dr Shakunthala and were present.