Vardhan reviews progress, unveils 10-point plan for health sector
Making 10 announcements in the health sector in the State, most of which are meant for the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bhubaneswar, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Saturday informed that the premier institute would be dedicated to public by the end of this year.
“The AIIMS Bhubaneswar will be dedicated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi by the end of this year,” the Minister told reporters after spending over an hour at the institute and inspecting the out and in-patient departments and interacting with faculty members and students and visiting hostels and staff quarters.
He made proposals for an integrated treatment facility for patients combining AYUSH and allopathic medication and techniques, a 100-bed super-specialty mental health and neurosciences centre, a 100-bed super-specialty nephrology centre with dialysis and kidney transplant facilities and a cancer super-specialty centre with 100-bed capacity.
The 10-point proposals of the Centre also envisage a cardiology and cardiac surgery centre with a 100-bed super-specialty facility, a brand new department of occupational and environmental health and a department of geriatric medicine. Besides, Dr Vardhan proposed that BSc (Nursing) students at the AIIMS, Bhubaneswar would receive a monthly stipend of `500.
He also assured to clear the decks for a recruitment drive for the AIIMS, which is suffering a serious shortage of faculty and non-faculty staffs, beginning from August.
“We have only 65 filled-up faculty positions in each AIIMS at present, a shortfall of 250. So, I have decided to hire teachers on contractual basis for the first two years because we need to get the facilities functional fast,” he told reporters.
The Minister said he has decided to give the Director of each AIIMS the authority to chair selection committee meetings.