ESIC to run newly constructed hospitals all by itself
New Delhi: Aiming at improving the delivery of medical services and providing other benefits to the workers, the Ministry of Labour and Employment has decided that all newly constructed hospitals belonging to The Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) and those approved in future would now be run by the Corporation itself unless the state government insists to run the hospital.
The decision, on the behalf of ESIC, has been taken during the 183rd meeting held on Sunday under the chairmanship of Minister of State for Labour and Employment Santosh Kumar Gangwar.
PTI reports that the decision to run the newly constructed hospitals and those in future by the Corporation has been taken in view of demand from both workers and employees, and with the objective to provide better medical services to the beneficiaries.
Currently, there are 1,520 ESI dispensaries and 159 hospitals across the country. Out of these, 45 dispensaries and 49 hospitals are directly run by ESIC, while the remaining hospitals are run by the respective state governments, it added.
In such cases, if admission for indoor treatment is required, the empanelled hospital will obtain time-bound permission from the ESI's approving authority through an online system.
PTI further adds that Super speciality services in cardiology, nephrology, urology and oncology will also be strengthened in select ESIC hospitals in Delhi-NCR, and will be extended to other ESIC hospitals across the country in a phased manner.
ESIC will engage professionals with specialisation in-hospital management or hospital administration or health care administration for maintenance, housekeeping, patient assistance, patient safety and other ancillary activities in its hospitals across the country.
The Corporation will also engage the services of project management consultant for monitoring and facilitating the execution of hospital and dispensary construction projects of ESIC from the stage of concept plan till the commissioning of the project.
It has also been decided to extend the relaxed conditions and the enhanced benefit of 50 per cent of the average per-day earning up to a maximum of 90 days under the Atal Beemit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana. This is for insured workers who had become unemployed due to COVID-19 induced lockdown for a further period of six months i.e. up to June 30, 2021.
The eligible workers would be able to file their claims on the ESIC website with the mobile number, Aadhaar and bank details.
Currently, medical services to the insured workers and their dependents under the ESI scheme are provided primarily through hospitals and dispensaries run by the state governments.
