Himachal Pradesh upgrades healthcare infrastructure at 6 Medical College Hospitals

Shimla: The Himachal Pradesh government is set to implement a series of initiatives aimed at upgrading medical infrastructure and enhancing healthcare facilities across all six state-run medical colleges.

It has approved the establishment of departments of Nephrology, Neurology, and Gastroenterology at Dr. Radhakrishnan Government Medical College, Hamirpur, along-with creation and filling of 118 posts across various categories, aiming to provide specialized treatment facilities to the patients from Hamirpur and neighbouring districts including Mandi, Una, Bilaspur and Kangra, the statement said. 

Under the directives of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, the hospital authorities have conducted a survey, which indicated a rise in the patients suffering from kidney, neurological and digestive system-related ailments.

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However, due to a lack of specialist doctors in these departments in the medical college, the patients are forced to go to IGMC Shimla, Dr. RPGMC Tanda and PGIMER, Chandigarh for treatment. The Chief Minister directed the Health department to expedite the process of establishing the new departments and appointing the requisite medical and supportive staff, the statement added.

The Chief Minister has also directed the department to improve the health care facilities across all the medical colleges. Following these directives, the state government has also given its nod to establish the department of Nuclear Medicine at Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri Medical College, Nerchowk in Mandi district along with the creation and filling of posts including Professor, Associate Professor, Assistant Professor, Senior Resident Doctor, Nuclear Medicine Technologist and Radiation Safety Officer.

Additionally, it also approved to fill up the post of Assistant Professor in the department of Immunohematology and blood transfusion in the department of Pathology in Dr YS Parmar Government Medical College Nahan, district Sirmaur.

The state government is also focused on upgrading medical technologies and diagnostic services across the state. As a part of this, three Tesla MRI machines are being installed in the medical colleges of Tanda, Hamirpur, and Nerchowk. The current MRI machine at IGMC is over 19 years old and is being replaced by the state government.

Chamiyana Hospital in Shimla, along with all medical colleges, zonal and regional hospitals, are being modernised to provide world-class treatment facilities within the state. The government has earmarked Rs 200 crore for implementing modern technologies in the hospitals and is consistently working to reduce patient dependency on out-of-state health care services.

Moreover, 69 health facilities are being upgraded for enhanced levels of care by adding specialist beds and improved diagnostic capabilities. 

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