Udhampur: The city will soon get a Super-specialty Army Hospital with the most modern hi-tech healthcare facility as well as DM and MCh trained super-specialist doctors.

Disclosing this , Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh said that, as per the expected schedule, the hospital is likely to start functioning early next year, but he has personally written to the Minister of Defence, Smt Nirmala Sitharaman, requesting her to try to get the project expedited, in order to ensure that the PDC (Probable Date of Completion) gets advanced and the hospital becomes functional by the end of this year.

Earlier in the day, Director General of Armed Forces Medical Service (AFMS), Lt. Gen. Bipin Puri called on Dr Jitendra Singh and gave a detailed update about the status of the super-speciality hospital coming up under the aegis of Northern Command, Udhampur.

Dr Jitendra Singh said that the new super-speciality Army Hospital at Udhampur will prove to be a great healthcare asset for the entire region. On the one hand, he said, it will offer prompt and high quality treatment to a large number of Armed Forces personnel and their families posted in the region and on the other hand, it will also provide a cost-effective and reliable treatment option for thousands of Ex-Servicemen and their families who comprise a large section of civilian population in the entire region extending up to the hilly terrains of the erstwhile Doda district.

Dr Jitendra Singh also lauded the support provided by the Army Medical Corps (AMC) in organizing several healthcare camps in the region. He was particularly appreciative of the two-day multi-speciality medical camp held recently at Bhaderwah, where expert doctors of AMC from across the country offered their services and over 10,000 civilian patients availed of this opportunity.

With the National River Rejuvenation Project (NRRP) including Devika as North India's first river for cleaning and reconstruction and, at the same time, the first Radio Station in Udhampur also becoming functional by the year-end, Dr Jitendra Singh said, a Super-specialty Army Hospital would be yet another addition to the district’s recent milestones.