In an effort to bring health services closer to the doorsteps of poor people, the Department of Health and Family Welfare is working towards starting 14 “Namma clinics” in the areas where construction labourers and other migratory people reside.
The 14 clinics will be among the 438 to come up across the State in the first phase. The State government has proposed to set up a total of 940 such clinics.
District Health and Family Welfare Officer M. Kishore Kumar said seven clinics will come up in Manglauru City Corporation limits, while the remaining seven will come up in Sullia, Bantwal, Puttur, Kadaba, Mulki, Moodbidri, and Ullal.
Each of these clinics will have a doctor, a staff nurse, a laboratory technician, and a group D employee. District Reproductive and Child Health Officer B.V. Rajesh said these clinics will treat common ailments and refer patients to other government hospitals for advanced treatment.
“The idea is to make treatment facility accessible to people and reduce the workload on primary health centres, taluk hospitals, and district hospitals,” Dr. Rajesh said.
The clinics were to be opened in notified and non-notified slum areas. As there are no slums in Dakshina Kannada, the district administration decided to open these clinics in areas where migratory labourers, including construction labourers, reside more in number. These areas should be more than four kilometers away from the jurisdictional primary health centre. Each clinic will cover a population ranging between 30,000 and 50,000.
Dr. Rajesh said among the places where this clinic will come up include Meenakaliya, Panchhanady, and Lingappayya Kadu. “In a week’s time we will finalise the 1000-square foot government building or a rented accommodation where a clinic can be set up,” he said.
Notification sanctioning the staff is awaited, he added.
