SRINAGAR: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Friday inaugurated the 150-bedded Ujala Cygnus Kashmir Superspeciality Hospital in Nowgam.
The Lt Governor said that the new state-of-the-art hospital, equipped with all the advanced medical facilities, will strengthen the government’s efforts of ensuring quality healthcare services to the people of J&K, besides generating employment opportunities for the locals.
To protect the health of citizens is the foremost responsibility of the administration. The UT Government is partnering with renowned healthcare companies, bringing private players on board and facilitating all such efforts to bridge the health gap by extending affordable & accessible healthcare facilities for all segments of society, observed the Lt Governor.
Highlighting the major strides made in the healthcare ecosystem, the Lt Governor said, J&K, once struggling to cater to the healthcare needs of the people, is now emerging as one of the leading states/UTs in various health parameters.
Even after 67 years of Independence, there were only three medical colleges in Jammu and Kashmir. Under the leadership of Prime minister Narendra Modi, seven new medical colleges have been established in the UT in just eight years. J&K has the unique distinction of being the first UT in the country with two AIIMS, the Lt Governor observed.
Prime Minister also launched the Ayushman Bharat-SEHAT Scheme in December 2020, extending health insurance of ₹5 lakh per family to every citizen without any discrimination. Before 2019, there were only 129 health and wellness centres across Jammu and Kashmir.
As many as 1275 new health and wellness centres have been set up in two years, he added. Furthermore, 211 Ambulances are serving the people of the UT round the clock. Dialysis facilities are now available in all 20 districts of UT. Government Medical College Jammu has also successfully performed a record three kidney transplants this year. Moreover, J&K is getting a much higher average per capita healthcare budget allocation than many states having more than twice the population, the Lt Governor further added.
Within a year, 22 proposals worth ₹4400 crore have been approved for developing Medicity in Jammu and Kashmir, which will create additional 1000 MBBS seats, and add thousands of beds for patients in health facilities, besides providing large employment opportunities to medical professionals, noted the Lt Governor.
The Lt Governor also highlighted the improvements registered in various health parameters during the last couple of years.