AMARAVATI: State government has decided to upgrade the area hospitals and community health centres (CHCs) functioning in the newly created district headquarters towns to district hospitals.
The decision has been taken to provide specialist services in district headquarters. District collectors have been asked to send the proposals to upgrade the area hospitals or community health centres located in the respective district headquarters towns.
In fact, the state government has proposed to take up 16 new government medical colleges in the state in which majority would be coming up in the newly created district headquarters. The Centre had already cleared three medical colleges-Piduguralla,Machilipatnam and Paderu. The state government is planning to send proposals to the Centre to get clearances for the remaining 13 medical colleges.
The new medical colleges would bring at least 500-bed government general hospitals (GGHs) to the new districts. Since it is expected to take at least 3-4 years to complete the medical colleges and affiliated general hospitals, the state government has decided to upgrade the area hospitals into district hospitals. While the general hospitals (teaching hospitals) are managed by the directorate of medical education (DME), the district and area hospitals are managed by the AP Vaidya Vidhana Parishad. CHCs and PHCs are managed by the directorate of health.
Sources said the government has decided to take up the upgradation and modernisation of district hospitals under Nadu-Nedu. While Vijayawada (the headquarters of NTR district) has general hospital, district hospitals are functioning in the newly created district headquarters towns-Rajahmundry, Bhimavaram, Nandyal and Tirupati. Area hospitals are functioning in other district headquarters towns including Bapatla, Paderu and Amalapuram.
State government already issued notification for appointment of specialist doctors including in the super specialty wings of cardiology, general medicine, general surgery, ophthalmology and orthopedic. About 600 specialist doctors would be available after the new recruitment. Sources said some of the young specialist doctors would be deputed to the proposed district hospitals in the new districts. "We have asked the district collectors to send the proposals for upgrading the infrastructure in the existing area hospitals to district hospitals including the doctors required keeping in view of the anticipated rush," said a senior official of medical and health department. Chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy had directed the officials to complete the recruitment of doctors and paramedical staff by the end of May and bring the additional services into function.
