The Podili Prasad GMCANA Millennium Truma Care Centre, a six-storied building being constructed on the premises of the Government General Hospital, would receive further financial assistance, Medical Education Minister P. Sudarshan Reddy said here on Tuesday. The Minister along with Health Principal Secretary J. Satyanarayana, District Collector B. Ramanjeneyulu, GGH Superintendent D. Phanibhushan and elected representatives visited the block to review its progress.
The State government had committed to extend Rs.5-crore matching grant for the project, being taken up with Rs.5-crore donation by an NRI doctor Podili Prasad. The government would not hesitate to pool up another Rs.2 crores to complete the structure, the Minister said. He went round the cardiology block, ICU and the dialysis centre before reaching the worksite.
Later, he met professors of Guntur Medical College in the Principal's chamber and assured them of considering their demands for promotion and pay revision. The Principal Secretary said that there were 610 vacant posts in medical education and this included 200 posts of professors and associate professors.
The department would shortly release the list of promotions of about 100 associate professors, he added. The issue of providing UGC scales was under the consideration of the General Administration and the Finance Ministry. Mr. Satyanarayana revealed that the government had formulated a new sanitation policy, under which the maintenance of hospital premises and sanitation would be outsourced to a private firm. Government hospitals in the State would now have biometric attendance system and all hospitals graded on the basis of key performance indicators that measure the quality of service, staff attendance and infrastructural facilities.
Virology lab
Guntur Medical College Principal A. Krishna Rao asked the Minister to give administrative sanction for setting up a virology lab on the premises of the GMC. The college had a fund of Rs.3.5 crores with which it plans to set up a lab, which would be the first-of-its kind in the coastal districts. He also appealed to the Minister to equip the department of radiology with an MRI scan, one of the mandatory conditions for being recognised by the Medical Council of India.
