PANAJI
The long-delayed health facility at Tuem will finally be commissioned on February 2 with Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Tuesday announcing it would be named ‘Government Hospital and Research Centre, Tuem (GMC Link)’.
The announcement followed a review held on January 26, which was attended by the Health Secretary and senior officials of the Goa Medical College, Public Health Department and Directorate of Health Services.
“The facility will be commissioned for public use on February 2, 2026. The hospital will be named ‘Government Hospital and Research Centre, Tuem (GMC Link),” he said in a press statement issued through the CMO.
The CM further stated that 13 Outpatient Departments -- Medicine, Surgery, Orthopedics, Gynecology, Dentistry, Ophthalmology, Pediatrics, AYUSH, Physiotherapy, Psychiatry, ENT, Radiology and Skin -- will begin functioning from the commissioning date. “These OPDs will be operationalized with doctors from Goa Medical College and the Directorate of Health Services who will be providing services at this facility,” he said.
The note also stated that all ancillary manpower, including nurses, multi-tasking staff, facility management and housekeeping personnel, and security services, would be deployed before the opening to ensure that there would be no hardships for the people.
The government has also cleared the establishment of a dedicated research centre at the Tuem facility that will take up advanced healthcare research in collaboration with the National Centre for Disease Control and other reputed institutions.
Operation theatres at the hospital are expected to be ready within four months. “The works of operationalizing these OTs are already in process of execution,” the CM said.
The government said that the new hospital is expected to cut down the need for patients to travel to the North Goa District Hospital and GMC Bambolim for routine and specialist care.
The commissioning of the 100-bedded medical facility, built at a cost of Rs 100 crores, had been delayed by seven years. The issue triggered protests in Tuem village and surrounding areas, with residents staging demonstrations and even resorting to a chain hunger strike, alleging government apathy over the failure to operationalise the hospital despite assurances over the years.
