Odisha govt to set up 20 new hospitals in PPP mode

Odisha government today decided to set up 20 new hospitals at an estimated investment of Rs 1,000 crore in the public private partnership (PPP) mode.

The decision in this regard was taken at a high level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here. The hospitals will be opened in 11 high priority districts under Odisha Health Service Investment policy-2016, officials said.

The hospitals will be opened in Hub and Spoke models under the Affordable Health care Project of the State Government. While some hospitals will function as central hospitals or hubs, the rest will operate as branch hospitals or spokes, they said.

The new hospitals will come up in Puri, Jeypore, Angul, Barbil, Baripada, Bhadrak, Balangir, Jharsuguda, Kalahandi, Phulbani, Dhenkanal, Boudh, Nuapada, Malkangiri, Nabarangpur, Sonepur, Rayagada, Paralakhemundi, Rairangpur and Kendrapara.

Orthopaedic, Medicine, Gynaecology, Paediatric, Surgery, Anaesthesia, Ophthalmology, Diagnostic, ENT, Dentistry, X-ray, Psychiatric, Dermatology and Trauma Care facilities will be available at the spoke hospitals.

In addition to the above facilities, there will be provision of Cardiology and Neurology departments at the hub hospitals.

At least 2700 new beds will be available in the 20 areas after completion of the project. These hospitals will provide treatment to patients having health insurance and assurance benefits. The patients availing special category facility will also get benefit from these hospitals.

These hospitals would be developed with an investment of over Rs 1000 crore while they would generate employment opportunities for over 10,000 people mostly in para-medical sector. Women will get maximum benefits from these hospitals, an official said.

Last week, Patnaik had announced a new health scheme the named Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana which would provide health benefits of Rs 5 lakh per family per annum. About 3.5 crore people of 70 lakh families will get the benefit from August 15.