New Delhi: Christian Medical College (CMC) Vellore on Wednesday unveiled plans to set up a new medical college and a teaching hospital on its Chittoor campus in Andhra Pradesh in partnership with Azim Premji Foundation.
As part of the agreement, the Azim Premji Foundation will extend a Rs 500 crore grant to CMC Vellore to set up the medical college and upgrade the existing 120-bed hospital into a teaching hospital with 422 beds.
The grant will also enable CMC Vellore to extend the distinctive elements of their MBBS education and focus on the discipline of Primary-cum-Secondary Health Care (PSHC) to address the widening disparities in the Indian healthcare sector.
“Our dream is that the new medical college and teaching hospital at our Chittoor Campus will offer a replicable model of relevant medical education, healthcare delivery, research, and outreach, sensitive to the financial, societal and resource constraints of our nation,” said Dr. Vikram Mathews, director of CMC Vellore.
“We are immensely grateful to the Azim Premji Foundation for partnering with us on this journey as CMC Vellore steps into her 125th anniversary in 2025,” Mathews added.
“We are privileged to support them as they establish their second medical college,” said Anurag Behar, CEO, Azim Premji Foundation.
Chittoor campus began with allied health science courses and a College of Nursing five years ago.
The agreement builds on the close association between the two organisations that began in 2020 when the pandemic disrupted India’s healthcare system.
CMC, located in Vellore, Tamil Nadu, is a 3675-bed multi-speciality healthcare institution of international repute. CMC’s primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary-care hospitals are spread across the Vellore and Ranipet districts of Tamil Nadu and Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh. Together, they serve over 32 lakh patients from around the country and South Asia, offering charitable subsidies of over Rs 300 crore annually.
In the field of education, CMC Vellore has consistently been ranked 3 by the Ministry of Education, GoI. Medical, Nursing and Allied Health education is offered at CMC Vellore to over 2000 students every year, through 229 courses, at a fraction of the actual cost.
