100 Hospitals To Be Promoted With 24X7 Medical Care

With the aim to reinforce the health care system crosswise Punjab to offer 24X7 Comprehensive Medical Services comprising urgent situations, obstetrical deliveries and Trauma services for every sufferer within a radius of 10 kilometers, the Punjab administration has chosen 22 district hospitals, 41 Sub-Divisional Hospitals in addition to 37 Community Health Centers (CHCs) well-resourced with the newest medical as well as diagnostic facilities.

Revealing this, a representative of the Chief Minister’s office stated that the Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal sanctioned a proposal of Rs. 102 crore to achieve the remaining works in this regard in the coming three month period.

The CM was presiding over a high level gathering of the Health and Medical Education & Research departments at Chandigarh at his official residence late last evening in which Health & Family Welfare Minister Madan Mohan Mittal, Chief Parliamentary Secretary Dr. Navjot Kaur Sidhu, Advisor on Health & Medical Education Dr. KK Talwar, famous physicians and senior authorities of both the sections were present.

Badal also ordered the Health Department to speed up the process for filling up all the empty posts and make sure cent-percent accessibility of Specialists and MBBS Doctors besides, other paramedic personnel in all the hospitals within stipulated time.

Accepting the request of Principal Secretary Health and Medical Education Vini Mahajan to ensure the smooth functioning of health care services in the State, the Chief Minister approved to create about 200 additional posts against the doctors who had proceeded for higher studies.

Underlining the dire requirement to aware the citizens regarding the prevention and control of communicable and non-communicable illnesses, comprising locally endemics, the CM asked the Health section to launch a huge awareness drive shortly.

While reexamining a comparative analysis and progress of National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), which was rolled out in the year 2005 in the nation with the key aim to lessen Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) and Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR), Badal added that although the state had been praised at National level for its exceptional attempts in dropping IMR but it was still required to attain more.

He asked the section to sketch a plan for setting up separate Hospitals or Wing for the Mother & Child care. Mr. Badal also said the section to make a system below which each and every newborn baby should be provided intensive health care for vital first month even after being discharged from the hospital.

In the gathering, Badal also reexamined the standing and development of setting up 5 new 50-bedded (each) ‘Model Drug De-addiction Centers’ at Amritsar, Jalandhar, Faridkot, Bathinda as well as Patiala that would be made operational as tertiary care facility in addition to service, training, records, research and manpower growth centers. Likewise to provide accessible and uniform health care services for drug users at all District/ Sub-divisional Hospitals, total 31 centers with 10-bed facility in each were being established.

Out of which 7 pre- subsisting Centers had already been prepared and 3 recently built would also be working shortly besides, 21 Centers were to be set up. The CM asked the Health section to make sure the accessibility of sufficient staff and other necessary support at the recently built Centers at Khiala Kalan, Hoshiarpur and Batala.

The CM also sanctioned the establishing of Drug De-addiction services in Central Jails and would roll out Prison Drug De-addiction Plan at Ludhiana prison shortly.

Badal also sanctioned the suggestions of PGIMR specialists Prof. Ajit Awasthi and Prof. Debasish Basu for documentation and supervison of the drug abuse situation crosswise Punjab in addition to, conducting a thorough research in a scientific way with the active participation of ICMR. He also impressed upon the requirement to involve nongovernmental organizations in this programme by assigning them an exact region or villages around a particular Drug De-addiction center.

Badal also asked the section to chalk out the modalities for introducing Pay Clinic system in the Medical Colleges for the working Doctors to shun the practice of their working in the private health Institution after the college hours.

During the convention, the CM was advised by the MD Punjab Health System Corporation Mr. Husan Lal that under the revised Core Plan of Rs. 268 crore the up gradation works in one District Hospital, 6 Sub Divisional Hospitals, six CHCs and 36 PHCs had been finished, while rest of the work was in procedure. It was also informed that out of 300 MBBS doctors picked out by PPSC, 290 physicians had joined the section thus far.

Major amongst those who were there in the gathering comprised Health & Family Welfare Minister Madan Mohan Mittal, Chief Parliamentary Secretary Health Dr. Navjot Kaur Sidhu, Advisor on Health & Medical Education Dr. KK Talwar, Dr. Ajit Awasthi from PGIMER, Principal Secretary Health and Medical Education Vini Mahajan, Special Principal Secretary to the CM Gurkirat Kirpal Singh, MD Punjab Health System Corporation Hussan Lal, NRHM Director Raj Kamal Chaudhary, DRME Dr. Tejveer Singh, Director Health Dr. Ashok Nayyar, VC Baba Farid Medical University Dr. SS Gill and Principals of Government Medical Colleges of Patiala and Amritsar besides, other Medico Professionals, Experts and officers of the state government.