Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat inaugurated the tele-radiology service launched under public-private partnership at the district hospital in Pauri on Friday and said that the launch of this facility has made Uttarakhand the fifth State of the Union of India to have such a facility. He was pleasantly surprised as he was provided with a CT scan report in 20 minutes following the launch of the service.
Addressing the people who gathered to see the inauguration of the much-awaited facility, CM said that the facility has been started presently at 12 hospitals across the State which includes the Pauri hospital.
“This service would prove a watershed development in the realm of medical service. It would help the people inhabiting the remotest areas of the State get proper medical treatment. Even the service of the specialists would be made available for them,” he said, adding that the facility would be started at 23 other hospitals soon.
While expressing concern over the acute paucity of doctors in the state-run facilities, CM said that as the number of the posts of the specialist doctors is 135 just 23 of them are now working.
“We are going all-out to resolve the crunch. Doctors from outside the state are being invited here. We have received such applications from doctors based in Kerala, Mizoram, Odisha and Assam. They would be appointed soon,” the chief minister said.
He said that apart from this, through talks with the army chief, the retired professional doctors are also being called to render their services. More than 2,000 applications of doctors from the army background and other states have been received and soon they will be posted at different locations in the state to provide their services.
An intensive care unit will also be established at every district hospital in the state. Stressing on the necessity of digital connectivity for tele-services, the chief minister said that internet facility for digital services will also be provided to the people under the Digital Bharat programme. With the help of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mumbai, the border areas will be connected with balloon internet services, he added.
Among those present at the launching ceremony were the minister of state Dhan Singh Rawat, MlA Mukesh Koli and DG health Dr Archana Srivastava.