Employees’ State Insurance (ESI) is a
self-financing social security and health insurance scheme for Indian workers. The
fund is managed by the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) according
to rules and regulations stipulated in the ESI Act 1948. Employees’ State Insurance Corporation runs
medical, dental, nursing and paramedical schools in many locations across
India.
The ESIC Hospital, Coimbatore, was
where the first ESI Scheme was implemented in the State of Tamil Nadu and its
suburbs in January 1995, followed by Chennai and its suburbs in November 1995. Employees
numbering 28188 with 7 lakh Insured persons and nearly 28 lakh beneficiaries
are availing benefits under the ESI scheme in the Coimbatore sub-region. The medical
benefits are provided through a network of state government controlled 48 ESI dispensaries,
two mobile dispensaries and a 500-bedded ESI Medical College Hospital at
Varadharajapuram, Singanallur, Coimbatore.
The ESIC Hospital, Chennai, was
initially commissioned as a 250-bedded hospital in the year 1979 and was under
the control of Tamil Nadu State Government till 1991. To open a zonal
Occupational Diseases Centre in South India, the hospital was taken over and is
being run by the ESI Corporation, New Delhi from 1991. This hospital now functions
as a model hospital with multi-specialty treatment facility and Occupational
Diseases Centre. It caters to referral cases from 15 ESI dispensaries in South
Chennai covering an insured population of 4,00,000.
Considering the fact that the public
building was used excessively, the hospital required a façade that offered the
best indoor ambience combined with a contemporary look. The architects, Mukesh
Associates, envisioned the contemporary look with a terracotta façade. In the
process, Wienerberger Aspect Clay façade tiles met both the hospital authority’s
and the architects’ expectations and created a unique identity for ESI
Hospitals across Tamil Nadu.
Wienerberger’s Aspect Clay façade is environment-friendly, sustainable and offers major technical and architectural advantages as façade cladding, declared the company. Clay façades are versatile and adaptable and they can meet most requirements – even the demand to be outstanding. A correctly executed façade cladding, with clay façade tiles, is an excellent heat insulator. Thanks to its mass, ceramic has a high heat buffering capacity. The effect is as good as a building sheathed in continuous second skin, which minimizes heat loss in winter and prevents over-heating during summer.
Monnanda Appaiah, MD, Wienerberger AG, added, “We aim to provide our clients with products for the whole building envelope that meet the requirements of the contemporary architects’ style quotient. We understand and appreciate the architect’s unique design aspirations and attempt to fulfill them through our natural, aesthetically appealing clay building products that can tastefully match the design requirements of the building.”
