Himachal: Government plans to spend over Rs 1500 crore to revolutionise health sector, says CM Sukhu

Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India], December 30 (ANI): Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said here on Monday that the Congress government is going to revolutionise the healthcare sector with an estimated capital expenditure of Rs 1570 crore on the procurement of state-of-art medical equipment and machinery to benefit the people.
He said that annually 9.50 lakh patients are travelling out of the state for diagnostic and treatment resulting in a loss of Rs 1350 crore of GDP per year. He said that this is a serious concern and the present state government is prioritizing strengthening healthcare infrastructure in the state to save the valuable money and time of thousands of patients.
CM Sukhu said that medical colleges are being upgraded with the facility of robotic surgery in Neurology, Oncology, orthopaedics and other departments as this will reduce the workload of the doctors and would also benefit the patients receiving treatments.
He said that the process for installing modern PET Scan and MRI machines in IGMC, Shimla and Dr Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College, Tanda, district Kangra is underway and this would be dedicated shortly.
The Chief Minister said that a Cancer Care Centre of Excellence would also be set up in Dr Radhakrishnan Government Medical College, Hamirpur with ultramodern facilities with an estimated cost of Rs 300 crore. He said that this facility would have the state's first cyclotron machine alongwith the facility for radiation and nuclear medicine therapy. He said that this centre would have 150 dedicated beds for the cancer patients.
CM Sukhu also directed to upgrade and strengthening of the 69 healthcare facilities with an enhanced levels of care in the state by adding speciality beds and diagnostic capabilities in these hospitals. These health facilities will also be strengthened for secondary care, emergency services, equipment abilities and facility safety measures including fire fighting infrastructure and improvement in internal mobility etc.
He said that special focus would be laid on establishing in-house laboratories for the enhancement of diagnostic and treatment facilities at Zonal Hospitals, Regional Hospitals, District Hospitals and Community Health Centres.
He said that modular operation theatres would be established in Zonal Hospitals and Civil Hospitals under this plan. He said that these measures would go a long way in preventing the migration of patients to other states for diagnostic and treatments while boosting medical tourism in the state.
The Chief Minister instructed the officers to accelerate the process of upgrading the healthcare facilities in the state and said that there is no dearth of money for this and that the government would provide additional funding if required.
He said that state government is committed to providing world-class healthcare facilities to the people of the state at their doorsteps.
Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr (Col.) Dhani Ram Shandil, MLAs Sanjay Awasthy and Ajay Solanki, Secretary Health M Sudha Devi, Special Secretary Health Dr Ashwani Sharma and other senior officers were also present in the meeting. (ANI)