Himachal govt plans to spend Rs 1 570 crore to revolutionise health sector says CM Sukhu

Shimla, Dec 30 (PTI) The Himachal Pradesh government will revolutionise the healthcare sector with an estimated capital expenditure of Rs 1,570 crore, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said on Monday.
    The money will be spent on procuring state-of-art medical equipment, he added.
    About 9.50 lakh people travel out of the state on an average every year for treatment, resulting in a GDP loss of Rs 1,350 crore, according to the chief minister.
    "This is a serious concern and the state government is prioritising strengthening the healthcare infrastructure to save the money and time of thousands of patients," Sukhu said.
    He added that medical colleges were being upgraded with facilities for robotic surgery to reduce the workload of doctors.
    The process for installing modern positron emission tomography (PET) scan and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines in Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital (IGMC), Shimla, and Dr Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College and Hospital in Kangra district is underway, Sukhu said.
    The chief minister also announced that a 150-bed cancer care centre of excellence would be set up in Dr Radhakrishnan Govt Medical College, Hamirpur, at an estimated cost of Rs 300 crore.
    The facility will have the state's first cyclotron along with facilities for radiation and nuclear medicine therapy, he said.
    Sukhu also ordered the upgradation and strengthening of 69 healthcare facilities.
    "These facilities will also be strengthened for secondary care, emergency services, equipment abilities and facility safety measures," he said.
    Special focus will be laid to establish in-house laboratories for enhancement of diagnostic and treatment facilities at zonal, regional and district hospitals and community health centres. Modular operation theatres will be established in zonal and civil Hospitals under this plan, Sukhu said.
    These measures will go a long way in preventing the migration of patients for diagnosis and treatment while boosting medical tourism in the state, he added.
    Sukhu instructed the officers to accelerate upgrading healthcare facilities and said money would not be an obstacle.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)