Super-Specialty Children’s Hospital in Vizag soon

  • | Thursday | 24th June, 2021

Rani Chandramani Devi (RCD) Children’s Hospital, is poised to become a 600-bed Super-Speciality Children’s Hospital.

The Rani Chandramani Devi palace, which is a century-old in 2019, still has royal elegance thanks to its regular maintenance.

Since 1965, the palace at China Waltair is being used as a children’s hospital popularly known as RCD hospital. It provides treatment to children suffering from physical deformities in post-polio and cerebral palsy cases, as per the wish of the queen.

Despite the palace being used as a hospital, its interior and exterior appearance has remained intact. The large portico, supported by Doric-style columns, gives a magnificent look to the two-story building. According to architects, the palace is built of ashlar stone masonry and is said to be the summer guest house of the queen.

Rani Chandramani Devi (RCD) Children’s Hospital, is poised to become a 600-bed Super-Speciality Children’s Hospital if the plans of the State government are materialised. The State government recently announced the establishment of three multi-speciality children’s hospitals in Visakhapatnam, Tirupati and Vijayawada/Guntur.

“We have already submitted a Detailed Project Report (DPR) to the government for construction of the 600-bed hospital on the premises of the RCD hospital which has been treating children with physical disabilities due to polio and cerebral palsy. District Collector V. Vinay Chand is taking a keen interest in the project. The advantage for Visakhapatnam is that 32 acres of land is readily available for the construction of the hospital. The buildings will be constructed on 5 acres of land,” Andhra Medical College Principal P.V. Sudhakar told.

“Post-bifurcation, there is no super-speciality children hospital in Andhra Pradesh. We had been planning since long for the establishment of an exclusive hospital for children with all paediatric sub-specialities like paediatric cardiology, paediatric oncology and paediatric surgery on the lines of the Niloufer Hospital in Hyderabad,” says Dr. Sudhakar.

“The Paediatrics Ward in the King George Hospital (KGH) is always full with more than 100% occupancy all through the year. Many a time, more than one child has to be accommodated on a single bed due to the high demand and shortage of beds and despite the best treatment,” he says.

“The present building housing the RCD Hospital originally belonged to Godey Narayana Gajapathi Rao but changed hands after his second daughter Rani Laxmi Narasayamma married Kurupam Raja Veerabhadra Raju. Rani Chandramani Devi was the daughter of a zamindar of Bissamcuttack in Odisha and wife of Vyricherla Narayana Gajapathi Raju,” says historian Vijjeswarapu Edward Paul.

“Rani Chandramani Devi used to suffer from backache and was treated by the noted orthopaedician M. Gopala Kini, who was posted at the KGH in Visakhapatnam as Professor of Operative Surgery during the 1930s. Dr. Kini had settled down in Bombay post-retirement and during the 1960s, Rani Chandramani Devi visited him there for treatment,” he says.

“She was impressed by Dr. Kini’s clinic in Bombay and wanted to establish a Children’s Hospital in Visakhapatnam and donated her summer palace and the 32-acre land surrounding it for the establishment of the hospital,” Mr Paul adds.


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