SHILLONG, FEB 5: Chief Minister Mukul Sangma Friday said the state government will submit affidavit before the Meghalaya High Court highlighting the steps taken to overcome the constrains as well as improving the health-care services in the state.
“Steps taken on this regard will be appropriately articulated in the affidavit which the government will submit before the High Court,” Sangma told reporters at the sideline of a cabinet meeting on Friday.
The decision was taken after a high level review meeting convened by the chief minister on Thursday, following the recent suo-moto case taken up by the Meghalaya High Court with regards to alleged pathetic health-care scenario in the state.
The court has also issued notices to the health authorities of both the centre and state over the issue.
Thursday meeting was attended by the minister in-charge health and family welfare department, AL Hek and senior officers at the level of additional chief secretary, commissioner & secretary besides directors and medical superintendent of civil hospital.
“I had immediately conducted a review on the matter yesterday,” Sangma said adding that measures which the government has taken to ensure people have access better health care facilities, the constrains existed, and number of initiatives to overcome these constrains, have been discussed and identified.
Stating that the health sector has been one of the priority sector and thrust area given by his government, he however said, “We are aware of the fact that on number of counts when the patient are brought to number of hospitals whether PHC, CHC or civil hospital or district hospital, because of certain constrain and sometimes because of lack of manpower or sometime because of high level tertiary care which is required to be passed on to the patient, the patient are often referred to tertiary health care centre.”
“Now what happen to patients who come from economically constrain background? Keeping this in mind, therefore the government has initiated the Meghalaya Health Insurance Scheme (MHIS) which is in the Phase II, to extend support to the citizens who are required to have access to medical health care facilities within the state run hospitals as well as private hospitals,” he said.
He further informed in his review this year, the total reimbursement was around Rs 15 crore plus which according to him means though patient are referred to hospitals outside the government medical institutions because of this objective of the government to ensure that people are not left unattended to when they are required to be referred to non-govt hospitals or outside the state, their actual medical care expenditure is covered by this MHIS.
Further highlighting on the problem of manpower constrains faced by the state, the Sangma said, “How we are preparing ourselves to actually overcome this constrain of manpower or in other words to meet the huge demand gap and supply in respect of legal professionals and the all those measures which are already in the offing will be articulated in the affidavit.”
Informing that he had also conducted a review on the Shillong Medical College which is on a PPP mode, he said, “I had in fact gone to Mawdiangdiang to know what is happening. The chest hospital which is under construction to enable the shifting of the Reid chest hospital from that venue (Mawprem) is in progress.”
According to him, he was told that the number of bed is not enough but expansion programme to address this concern will further proceed.
It may be mentioned, the chest hospital will be shifted to the newly constructed building at Mawdiangdiang from its present site at Mawprem to allow for facilitating the construction of the proposed Shillong Medical College.
Stating that the health department is already in consultation with the finance department for taking up necessary measures on this regard, Sangma said, “It is high time for us, to somehow minimize the pressure of patient flow to the capital and district capitals by creating more medical-facilities and institutions across the state.”
Sangma informed that numbers of such initiatives are on; structures are under construction, some of the projects are in the final consideration of the government and so all these measures which are being taken will be appropriately shared in our affidavit.-By Our Reporter
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