Maharashtra Government to set up 111 hospitals, health centres

The government is pushing for easy access to medical facilities in rural belts like Nandurbar, Chandrapur and Gadchiroli

In a bid to improve healthcare infrastructure, the state government is set to start 111 hospitals and health centres, mostly in rural and tribal districts of Maharashtra. In the next three months, four women’s hospitals, two district hospitals, three sub-district, one rural, six trauma-care hospitals and 20 public health centres along with 74 sub-centres will be kick-started.

With the healthcare burden falling on Mumbai’s tertiary care hospitals, the government is pushing for easy access to medical facilities in rural belts like Nandurbar, Chandrapur and Gadchiroli, where 100-bed women’s hospitals will be set up to curb the maternal mortality rate along with new PHCs. A regional referral hospital is also being developed in Amravati to provide specialised services and surgeries.

With plans to set up new health infrastructure, the government is set to incur an additional cost of Rs 46.5 crore every year for 1,332 new posts sanctioned for doctors, paramedical staff and nurses for the new hospitals and sub-centres. Of these, 267 new doctors will be recruited in the next three months.

“On January 8 and 22, we will hold appointments for paramedical staff and Class IV workers to fill some 4,195 posts,” said Health Minister Deepak Sawant.

While the government is pushing for two new 100-bed district hospitals for Dhule and Jalgaon, newly carved district Palghar is yet to see a district hospital of its own. According to officials, the delay to construct a new hospital building is because the government could not allocate land for the district hospital.

“The thrust is on tribal areas where medical access is remote,” said Sawant. According to him, the government is also in the process of recruiting 545 doctors for super-specialisation positions. “The problem, however, comes when doctors are not willing to work after appointment due to better opportunities in the private sector,” said Vivek Dahiphade, Under Secretary, Health department.

The health department has terminated the services of 104 doctors in rural and tribal areas after an inquiry found them not reporting for work for prolonged periods. A similar inquiry is on against 320 doctors appointed in public health centres, districts and sub-district hospitals but never reported for work.

According to Sawant, cumulative data till now shows 581 doctors have defaulted on their appointments and chosen to work in the private sector instead. “The procedure lays down a resignation notice to the state government. We are now thinking of asking the Maharashtra Medical Council whether these absconding doctors could be held for professional misconduct,” said Sawant.

The 581 doctors were issued notice after they stopped coming to work, in some cases doctors did not even join the post assigned to them. In 157 cases, the doctors were either let off or they returned back to work after receiving the government notice.