The ambitious project to build a Centre of Excellence for Cancer Diseases in the premises of the Government Arignar Anna Memorial Cancer Hospital, Kancheepuram district will be completed by May.

The hospital in Karapettai is being upgraded as one of the premium institutions for comprehensive cancer care and provide training and pursue research on the disease.

Spread over 10 acres of land, the 1,000-bedded hospital in Karapettai will cater to patients in Tamil Nadu and from neighbouring States. The Public Works Department has completed nearly 95% of the work to build the hospital at a total cost of Rs. 218.46 crore.

The five-storey hospital is being constructed in a total area of 6.35 lakh square feet. Pointing out the replica of the Centre of Excellence in the new building, a PWD official said it has been designed as a pentagon-shaped building with 10 blocks.

While the State government had initially sanctioned to build two-storeyed structure in 2020, it was later proposed to add three more floors in the hospital that would function as an apex centre for research.

Various blocks would incorporate facilities and departments, including palliative care, radiation oncology ward, medical oncology ward, patient resource centre, genetics department, modular operation theatres, blood bank and occupational therapy and interventional pain management clinic.

“We have designed the buildings to be well-ventilated with atriums and central courtyard that would have a tensile roof for an aesthetically pleasing design. It was a challenge to execute the project as in the design,” said an official.

Besides molecular research lab, bone marrow transplant unit, the new structure would also have facilities like yoga hall, multi-purpose hall, parking facility, library and cafeteria.

The hospital already has MRI scan and CT scan facilities functioning in it. Building two linear accelerators on the rear of the hospital with thick walls was another challenge, officials said.

There are plans to convert the existing buildings of the Government Arignar Anna Memorial Cancer Hospital built in 1969 into dormitories. At present, the hospital caters to nearly 3,000 patients daily.

Work is in progress to create a horse-shoe shaped walking track in the entrance and also renovate a small pond on the rear of the hospital. The structure would also have a sewage treatment plant that would have a capacity to treat 500 kilolitres a day and another effluent treatment plant, officials added.

Tamil Nadu Medical Services Corporation has started the process for procuring equipment for the hospital. A statue of former Chief Minister C.N.Anna Durai would be erected on the premises.