Mangaluru : Minister for Health and Family Welfare U.T. Khader said here on Monday that the State government has given administrative approval for building a 50-bed AYUSH Hospital on the premises of the Government Wenlock Hospital in the city.

Addressing presspersons here, Mr. Khader said that the hospital would have blocks for Ayurveda, Unani, Homoeopathy and Yoga.

A temporary outpatient unit would be opened for Ayush branches inside the old building of the hospital on May 12, he said.

The hospital would be built at an estimated cost of Rs. nine crore with 60 per cent funding from the Union government under the National Urban Health Mission. “The department has already identified 50 cents of land for the construction of Ayush block in the campus,” he said.

“The proposed new block in Wenlock Hospital will be the first integrated Ayush hospital in the State. We also have plans to open Ayush Wellness Centre with Panchakarma facilities in the Ayush hospital. The wellness centre will be opened either directly by the government or through a public private partnership mode,” he said. While the government has already sanctioned 58 posts for the proposed Ayush hospital, provisions will be made to hire the services of private doctors too, he said.