KOCHI: It is celebration time at the Amrita Hospital as the premier super specialty healthcare institution in the port city of Kochi completes 25 years of cutting edge healthcare for tens of thousands of patients drawn from different parts of the globe.

The hospital, which has blazed a new trail in tertiary healthcare, has come a long way from the day it was established on May 17, 1998. Today, the hospital has 17 centres of excellence, 58 specialty departments, 31 most advanced operation theatres, 670 faculty members, 4,500 support staff and 24x7 telemedicine service, making it the biggest healthcare facility in the State.

Amrita was the first healthcare facility in Asia to perform a robotic-assisted DBS implantation for Parkinson's Disease and ROSA robotic-assisted neurosurgeries and upper-arm double hand transplant.

It was also at Amrita that India's first micro blood stem cell transplantation, first fully robotic liver transplantation (donor hepatectomy), first robotic-assisted knee and hip replacement, first hand transplantation, and first foetal surgery of its kind on a 21-month-old baby in the mother's womb were conducted. The first 3D printed breast bone reconstruction in the country was also performed at Amrita Hospital.

Amrita also has to its credit the record of having established the first centre for robotic surgical training for surgeons, the first extended reality lab in a medical facility, the first medical 3D printing facility, the first dedicated adult congenital heart disease clinic, the first comprehensive and dedicated fetal cardiac centre, the largest epilepsy monitoring unit, the first amyloid centre, the first fully integrated diabetic foot care service, the first neural therapy centre and the first nanobio centre in India.

Amrita has so far performed the largest number of minimally invasive epilepsy surgeries and the largest number of high-precision robotic liver transplants. 

Amrita was the first hospital in Kerala to perform liver transplantation (deceased donor), simultaneous pancreas kidney (SPK) transplantation, gender affirmation surgery, implantation of the world's smallest artificial heart pump, small bowel transplantation, and a minimally invasive procedure for heart valve replacement (2016).

Amrita was the first medical facility in Kerala to establish a centre for high precision radiation therapy with cyberknife and tomotherapy, first telemedicine centre with satellite connectivity, and the first blood stem cell transplant and therapies centre in the private sector.

Amrita has the largest number of robotic surgery specialties in Kerala and the first and most comprehensive paediatric cardiac programme in Kerala.

Indian Home Minister Amit Shah would inaugurate the silver jubilee celebrations. To mark the silver jubilee, two research centres are being set up at Kochi and Amritapuri in Kollam. The hospital has announced a Rs. 65-crore free healthcare programme to mark the occasion. 

The hospital provides free medical care for a total bill of Rs. 40 crore annually. An additional Rs. 25 crore is being earmarked for free medical care to mark the 25 years of the hospital's service to patients from all over the world, Amritanandamayi Madhom Vice-Chairman and Amrita Viswa Vidyapeetom President Swami Amritaswarupanandapuri told a news conference. 

Amrita Group Medical Director Dr. Prem Nair, Dr. R.Krishnakumar, Dr. Priya Nair were also present at the news conference.