At a time when the state is reeling from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Andhra Pradesh government is preparing to beef up the tertiary healthcare services sector in the state. In this regard, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Friday mooted 16 health hubs across the state.
Reviewing the COVID-19 situation on Friday, the Chief Minister noted that people are going to Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Chennai for tertiary treatment and medical care and said health hubs should be set up at district headquarters and corporations. A total of 16 health hubs should be set up in district headquarters and at Rajahmundry, Vijayawada, and Tirupati, the CM added.
At present, due to the absence of significant tertiary healthcare institutions in Andhra Pradesh, people make a beeline for other states. Andhra Pradesh plans to reduce this flow in the years ahead by building its own network of speciality medical institutions.
"Tertiary care will be improved in the state as multi-speciality and super-speciality hospitals will come up in the district headquarters and corporations so that patients need not go to other places for medical treatment," Jagan Mohan Reddy said, according to a statement issued by the state government.
As per the tentative plans of the Chief Minister, 30-50 acres of land area will be acquired, of which five acres must be allotted to each hospital free of cost. The lands would be allocated to hospitals that are ready to invest at least Rs 100 crore over three years. It is expected that these health hubs will result in 80 multi/super-speciality hospitals coming up in the state.
According to a Deccan Chronicle report, apart from these hospitals, the Andhra government is also keen on setting up 16 teaching hospitals and nursing colleges to boost health care in both government and private sectors.
Meanwhile, as per the latest health bulletin, 14,429 new cases were reported upon testing 84,502 samples. Meanwhile, 20,746 patients have also recovered from COVID-19 in the same time period, and 103 passed away. There are presently about 1,80,362 active cases in the state.
With IANS inputs