Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan Deemed to be University (SOA) has opened a campus of the Institute of Medical Sciences (IMS) and SUM Hospital in southern Odisha, India.

The campus was officially inaugurated on 14 February and is located in Sitalapalli, a village in Odisha's Ganjam district.

It will initially have 200 beds, with plans to increase this to 500 in the future.

SUM Hospital’s new campus is an extension of the Institute of Medical Sciences and SUM Hospital that aims to provide the latest healthcare facilities and technology at an affordable cost, as well as round-the-clock emergency services.

The hospital is equipped with speciality and super speciality departments that are staffed by healthcare experts trained both in India and abroad.

The New Indian Express quoted Patnaik as saying: “Odisha has been placed at second position in the country in investment and many international companies in the IT sector are opening their units in the state.

“Besides, Odisha has earned a niche in disaster management and sports and games. 

“The 5T (transparency, technology, teamwork, time and transformation) programme has transformed education and health sectors in the state.”

SOA is a deemed-to-be university located in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, where it also operates a teaching hospital.

Last year, the university was ranked 15th in India by the country's National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF).

SOA recently opened SUM Hospital’s second campus in Phulnakhara, Bhubaneswar on National Highway (NH) 16.

The campus offers a range of advanced healthcare facilities and technology and is intended to act as a critical healthcare hub between Bhubaneswar and Cuttack.

It has an initial bed capacity of 750, with plans to increase this to 3,000 beds within two years.

In addition to these two campuses, SOA has established SUM Ultimate Medicare, a quaternary care hospital in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.