DU plans to expand Patel Chest institute into multispeciality hospital

NEW DELHI: The Delhi University is planning to develop the Vallabhbhai Patel Chest Institute (VPCI) into a multispeciality hospital, Vice Chancellor Yogesh Singh said Thursday. Started in the 1950s, the Patel Chest Institute has sent a proposal to the Government of India to make it a full-fledged medical college.

"We have Patel Chest Institute. We wish to make it a full-fledged medical institute, which is why the Patel Chest Institute has sent a letter to the Government of India. It is now a specialised hospital if we could include more disciplines. We will open a multispeciality hospital in the coming days," Singh said.

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The VPCI is a postgraduate medical institution devoted to research, teaching and patient care in the field of chest diseases. It is a University of Delhi-maintained institution and is funded entirely by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The Institute is ideally located in the heart of the main campus of the University of Delhi, providing the requisite academic environment.

In 1946, the Committee constituted by the Vice-Chancellor for this purpose recommended the establishment of a chest institute. A proposal to this effect was accordingly formulated by the Vice-Chancellor and submitted to the government.

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Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the then Deputy Prime Minister, laid the foundation stone for the institute on April 6, 1949. Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, the then Union Minister of Health, formally opened the Institute on January 12, 1953 and Dr R. Viswanathan was appointed as the first Director of VPCI. The hospital wing, Viswanathan Chest Hospital (formerly known as Clinical Research Centre), was started around 1956. It was inaugurated by the then President Rajendra Prasad on October 24, 1957.