NE NEWS SERVICE
CHENNAI, JAN 24
The rural healthcare system in the state is good and there is no chance of privatising government district hospitals, said Health Minister C. Vijayabaskar here on Friday.
Replying to a question on NITI Aayog’s decision to link private medical colleges with functional government district hospitals through Public Private Partnership model, the minister said the State government was yet to look into it, he told reporters on the sidelines of an event to launch the Apollo Institute of Spine Surgery and Spine Surgery Robot.
Waiting for final decision to add 4 more medical colleges
Dr. Vijayabaskar said though the technical evaluation committee of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare given its nod to establish four more medical colleges – Ariyalur, Cuddalore, Kallakurichi and Kancheepuram – the state government is waiting for the final nod of the Empowered Committee, he said.
The State, last year, got the nod for establishing nine new medical colleges with 60% funding from the Centre.
The Minister said that the tendering process for the nine new medical colleges was completed, and the Chief Minister would lay the foundation stones soon.
The government is also installing 10 linear accelerators for cancer treatment at State hospitals at a cost of Rs 24 crore each. “The Chief Minister is launching the facility at Tamil Nadu Government Multi Super Speciality Hospital in Omandurar and Government Royapettah Hospital on January 28. The equipment will be installed in the remaining places in a phased manner,” he said.
The Chief Minister will also inaugurate Tower-3, a block for outpatient departments that has come up at a cost of Rs.100 crore, at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital next month. Along with it, a new block for rheumatology, a linear accelerator and PET would also be inaugurated, the minister said.
