It's a long wait for poor to access City Diagnostic Centre
Visakhapatnam: Even as the construction of an advanced City Diagnostic Centre and a regional drug store got completed months before, the facilities are yet to be made operational.
Located at the state-run Visakha Institute of Medical Sciences (VIMS), the construction work for the diagnostic centre to come up with advanced equipment and the drug store began three years ago in an area of approximately two acres. Although buildings construction was completed in an accelerated mode, they are yet to be made operational.
As planned, City Diagnostic Centre is set to offer multiple high-end pathology and radiology services, among others, to the needy free of charge.
Initiated by Andhra Pradesh Medical Services and Infrastructure Development Corporation (APMSIDC), the buildings were completed at a cost of about Rs 20 crore. With an aim to cater to the high-end healthcare services to the poor, the diagnostic centre was constructed. Among a host of other screenings, the centre will help take up MRIs, cancer screenings, ECG, 2D-echocardiogram and blood tests free of cost for those belonging to weaker sections.
Currently, such testing facilities are available in King George Hospital (KGH), which is already being overloaded. Once the new diagnostic centre becomes operational, the load on KGH will be eased to a large extent. At VIMS, such tests are charged nominally. The regional drug store that is proposed along with the diagnostic centre aims to store and supply drugs to hospitals located across North Andhra. However, the drug store is yet to be made operational.
However, the government is contemplating to run the centre in a public-private-partnership mode. 'In case the government must run the diagnostic centre, recruitment of manpower needs to be taken up. Also, maintenance of such centres needs crores of investment. At present, the government is considering whether to operate the facility or run it in a PPP mode,' shared K Rambabu, VIMS Director, with The Hans India.
It may be recalled that three such diagnostic centres were approved by the Central government in Andhra Pradesh, in Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Tirupati.
Given the cost factor involved in operating the centre, there are enough indications that the facility will be run in a PPP model as a pilot project either in Visakhapatnam or Vijayawada.
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