Southern States - Kerala   

Rs. 840-cr. project to upgrade hospitals

By Our Staff Reporter

PARIYARAM JUNE 8. The Chief Minister, A.K. Antony, has said that the Government is planning to implement a Rs. 840-crore World Bank-aided project to give a facelift to Government healthcare institutions including public health centres, district hospitals and medical college hospitals, as part of enhancing their facilities.

"I am happy to see the high-tech facilities at the Pariyaram Medical College Hospital, but I am also sad to note that none of the Government-run medical colleges has even one-tenth of the facilities that I have seen here," Mr. Antony said while inaugurating the Sahakarana Hrudayalaya, the cardiology wing started at the Medical College Hospital here in collaboration with the Bangalore-based Narayana Hrudayalaya. The proposed World Bank-aided project to modernise the healthcare institutions in the State would enhance the existing facilities in hospitals, he said.

Complimenting the Cooperation Minister, M.V. Raghavan, founder chairman of the Kerala State Cooperative Hospital Complex and Centre for Advanced Medical Science (KSCHC & CAMS) that runs the medical college-cum-hospital, for developing it into a major healthcare and medical education institution in the region, the Chief Minister said the State had already become self-sufficient as far as such institutions were concerned thanks to his Government's efforts to free the State from the deep-rooted ideological stubbornness.

"The people of the State deserve better facilities and the Government is determined to introduce changes that are required for improving the facilities," Mr. Antony said adding that large number of health care institutions including medical colleges, nursing colleges, paramedical institutions and Ayurveda and Sidha colleges were coming up in the private and cooperative sectors.

Hinting at the absence of the invited CPI(M) leaders and people's representatives at the function, the Chief Minister called on the political leadership to change its mindset so as to look beyond old ideological disputes. He also announced that he would be convening a meeting of Opposition leaders soon to seek their cooperation on matters relating to the State's development.

The Chief Minister said that the Government would extend its support to the efforts to further develop the Pariyaram Medical College.

Delivering the presidential address at the function, Mr. Raghavan said the Government was planning to introduce an insurance policy for employees in the cooperative sector in the State for providing cardiac treatment in association with the Narayana Hrudayalaya. Though the scheme was yet to be worked out, it envisaged payment of an annual premium-- about Rs. 90-- by scheme members and provision of free cardiac surgery and even `valve replacement' to those members who required them, he said.

The Forest and Sports Minister, K. Sudhakaran, who is a member of the KSCHC & CAMS director board, welcomed the gathering. The Education Minister, Nalakath Soopy, the MLAs, K.C. Joseph, and C.T. Ahmed Ali, the Naryana Hrudayalaya Cardiac Surgery Department Head, Collin John, delivered the felicitations.

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