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Punjab to set up 333 urban wellness centres: Vijay Singla
Punjab government will set up 333 urban wellness centres in urban and semi-urban areas across the state, health minister Dr Vijay Singla announced on Friday
The Punjab government will set up 333 urban wellness centres in urban and semi-urban areas across the state, health minister Dr Vijay Singla announced on Friday taking a step forward towards implementing the Delhi’s health model in the state
Dr Singla along with Vidhan Sabha speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan reached the Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS) at Faridkot to attend the 16th annual conference of the North Zone Association of Plastic Surgeons on Friday.
“The state government has prepared a proposal to set up 333 urban wellness centres in urban areas of Punjab. A special fund will be allocated in the budget for this project. The government will be utilising public buildings and the rest of the infrastructure, including machines, and laboratories would be provided by the department. Doctors would also be posted there,” he said while requesting doctors that their help would be required to make it work.
Admitting that the public healthcare system in the state is at a crumbling stage at present, Dr Singla said the AAP government will do everything to improve the health services in the state. “The government will improve the existing health infrastructure and streamline super-speciality branches. We will bring Punjab’s health sector to that level after which the private sector has to compete with affordable charges. The government will practically implement whatever will be required and provide all support to the health sector,” he said.
‘Shortage of super-specialist docs in public health sector’
“I have visited government medical colleges at Patiala, Amritsar and Faridkot. They all have good infrastructure but there is a huge shortage of super-specialist doctors in the public sectors. There is no neurosurgeon in government medical colleges at Patiala and Amritsar, so there is no use for infrastructure as trauma centres can’t be functional without doctors. Very soon, the government is going to start the recruitment of doctors to fill the vacancies, especially in super-speciality branches,” he said.
Sandhwan said there is a huge gap between patient and doctor relations, which must be bridged by sincere efforts. He said ample funds will be provided to the health sector in the upcoming budget of the AAP government.
Launches two initiatives
While launching the initiatives, the health minister said a monthly magazine named ‘Sehat Jagrukta’ and an official YouTube channel ‘Health Media Punjab’ of the department were launched on the occasion.
