Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday in the second phase inaugurated 67 ‘Ama Hospitals’ in 15 districts of the state, Dialysis Center at Umerkot Sub Divisional Hospital, Subarnapur District Headquarters Hospital and BMRC Cardiac Care Hospital at Jharsuguda. In addition to this, the Chief Minister laid the foundation stone for the Sub Divisional Hospital at Begunia in Khordha district.
Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said that all the arrangements in ‘Ama Hospital’ have been made keeping in mind the convenience of the people. “The main focus of this program is patient convenience and improved medical care. ‘Ama Hospitals’ will usher in a new era in the state of healthcare.” The Chief Minister said that this will bring a huge transformation in the field of health care in government hospitals.
He further said that ‘Ama Hospital’ will further brighten the picture of transformation in the healthcare sector. He said that ‘Ama Hospital’ has been started based on proposals obtained during 5T Chairman’s visits to the districts and public feedback through ‘Mo Sarkar’. Stating that this is a huge transformation in our healthcare sector at the government level, the Chief Minister said that the 5T initiative has improved the infrastructure in hospitals, basic facilities for patients and the service delivery process. “Quality is also ensured. In the next 5 years, 1858 hospitals are targeted to be included in this program and for this purpose more than Rs 3,300 crore has been allocated during 2023-28.” He informed that the transformation work of 149 hospitals is underway.
Highlighting the health services of the state, the Chief Minister said that 4,000 doctors and more than 3,700 nurses have been recruited in the last year to provide better health services to the people. Free medical facilities have been provided in government hospitals for both the rich and the poor. Today, Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana has turned out to be a model across Odisha in the field of health care. People of Odisha are relieved of their healthcare worries. “By implementing the mantra ‘All lives are precious for me’, with cooperation from all we will fulfil the dream of ‘Sustha Odisha, Sukhi Odisha’ (Healthy Odisha, Happy Odisha)”, the Chief Minister asserted.
Health and Family Welfare Minister Niranjan Pujari said that today, with the efforts of the Chief Minister, the people of Odisha are getting facilities in government hospitals similar to private hospitals. Odisha’s largest district-level hospital has been established at Sonepur under the 5T initiative in a very short time. A long-time dream of the people of Sonepur has been realised through this.
Coordinating the program 5T and Nabin Odisha Chairman Kartik Pandian said that to date 140 ‘Ama Hospitals’ have been launched in two phases. More than Rs 700 crore has been spent on this. This work has been successful with everyone’s cooperation. He thanked everyone for this and requested them to maintain these hospitals as their property.
Participating in the program from Paralakhemundi in Gajapati district MP Chandra Shekhar Sahu, MLA Sushant Kumar Behera from Kosala in Angul district, former Deputy chairman of State Planning Board Sanjay Kumar Dasbarma from Rebana Nuagaon in Puri district, MLA Prafulla Samal from Dhamnagar in Bhadrak district, MLA Satya Narayan Pradhan from Ranpur in Nayagarh district, Block Chairperson Naveen Naik from Umerkot in Nabarangpur district, Government Deputy Chief Whip Saroj Kumar Meher from Kantbanji in Balangir district, and MLA Dipali Das from Jharsuguda said that in the eyes of the Chief Minister, every life is precious to him. “For this, he has always given high priority to providing better quality healthcare to the people of the state.” They opined that the faith of the people of the state in the government hospitals has increased today.
In the program, Sasmiprabha Rout from Nilagiri in Balasore district, Sunita Rani Prusty from Deogarh district, Savitri Meher from Loisinga in Balangir district, Sunandita Sahu from Bolagarh in Khordha district, Aarti Kuldeep from Lakhmipur in Koraput district, Sonali Das from Barchana in Jajpur district narrated their experiences and said, “our Chief Minister has perfectly understood ‘health is wealth’ .” “That is why he has built such good hospitals for us. The ‘Ama Hospital program’ has seen a massive transformation of hospitals in our region. All services are available for free. We are very happy.” Apart from expressing their gratitude, they thanked the Chief Minister and 5T Chairman.
Secretary of Health and Family Welfare Shalini Pandit gave the welcome speech and the Director of Health proposed the vote of thanks.
