Overburdened PGI to have outreach centre in Panchkula
The overburdened premier medical institute, the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, is planning to open an outreach centre in Panchkula and has asked the Haryana government to provide land for the purpose. This centre will provide patient care to patients coming from the neighbouring states.
The overburdened premier medical institute, the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, is planning to open an outreach centre in Panchkula and has asked the Haryana government to provide land for the purpose. This centre will provide patient care to patients coming from the neighbouring states.
To a specific query by HT regarding the overburdening of PGIMER, Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said he too is concerned about it. "The PGI authorities met me recently and I assured them that my government is ready to give them land and all logistic support to set up an extension of PGIMER in Panchkula. We have agreed on this and I hope things would soon be worked out," he said.
Even PGI's Standing Academic Committee, in its meeting held on December 12, suggested the PGI administration to "take up the matter with the Punjab and Haryana governments to provide land to the institute to set up separate satellite centres".
Confirming that the demand for land has been made to Haryana, institute spokesperson Manju Wadwalkar said a concrete proposal was yet to be made.
Significantly, Haryana ranks third in the list of the number of patients getting treated at PGIMER, with around 83,000 patients visiting the institute last year.
These centres, which will be run by the PGIMER administration, will have all kind of facilities and infrastructure related to patient care. The well-known doctors from the institute will examine the patients at these centres. So far, the number of beds these centres will have has not been decided.
Both, Punjab and Haryana governments were approached for land. The PGIMER had also demanded around 100 acre for medicity project from Greater Mohali Area Development Authority to open a centre.
According to PGIMER officials, the main purpose of opening the new centres is to reduce the heavy load of patients on PGIMER. Around 15 lakh patients are treated at PGIMER every year, where around 1.25 lakh minor and major surgeries are performed every year.