Chennai: The
corporation canteen at Rajiv Gandhi Gove­r­nment General Hospital
(RGGGH) at Central, which is under construction, will be the biggest of
its kind in the city and will be designed in a patient-friendly manner.

Other
than providing food, which goes easy on the pocket, the canteen will
have ramps for differently abled and possibly have separate counters for
them. GH sources say, “The corporation canteen is built on a 5,000 sq
ft land and will be the biggest to accommodate the 12,000 outpatients,
3,000 inpatients and thousands of staff and visitors at the hospital.
The canteen is expected to open by mid-September.”

“The canteen
would be helpful in keeping away rats from the hospital as people will
opt for the low-cost corporation canteen at the hospital and will not
bring their food from home. Thus the patients will not waste food on the
premises and keep the hospital clean,” a senior doctor at RG­GGH said.

The Chennai corp­oration has also floated tenders to build the corporation canteen at Kast­h­urba hospital in Tripl­icane.

“It
will be a good move from the corporation if disabled friendly
facilities and separate counters are introduced in all the
corporation-run canteens in the city,” said Ramachandran, an IT
employee.

“Cooking becomes a tough task for me as I had to take
care of my husband who is admitted in the hospital. Till now, I managed
with it but once the canteen is open I would be able to get food at
affordable price here at the hospital,” said the rel­a­tive of a patient
adm­itted at the RGGGH.