Chandigarh: The UT government is contemplating handing over the Government Multi-Speciality Hospital Sector 16 (GMSH 16) to a private player so that it can be upgraded into a medical college with 100 MBBS seats.
This comes in view of the central scheme under Niti Ayog which allows the new or existing private medical college to be linked with the functional district hospital through public-private partnership (PPP) mode.
Following the scheme, the total beds of the district hospital will be distinguished in two ways; half of the beds will be marked as 'market beds' and the rest as 'regulated beds'. Those identified as market beds will have a market price while the regulated beds will be subsidized. Moreover, the entire infrastructure of the hospital will also be handed over to the private player who will upgrade it and in exchange, the corporate will establish the medical college and operate the OPD services.
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Confirming the proposal, UT adviser Manoj Parida told Hindustan Times, "We had earlier submitted a detailed project report with the ministry of health and family welfare for establishing an undergraduate medical college at GMSH-16. Now, we are also exploring a new scheme under which the hospital will be handed over to a private player for upgrading it to a medical college."
UT officials will be holding a meeting with the central government officials and the Niti Aayog on the issue where they will further examine the alternative, informed the minister.
Adding that it is still in the concept stage, Parida said, "In any privatization plan, existing service conditions of employees are protected." As per the daily, in case of departments, such as anatomy, which have not been established at GMSH, faculty members from GMCH, Sector 32, will be roped in until the new college starts functioning in those areas completely.
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Previously team reported that Chandigarh health department decided to establish a new undergraduate Medical College and the college is to be associated with the 500-bed government multi-specialty Hospital sector 16 with a total of 100 MBBS seats permission for which is due to be granted by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. For the construction of the college's academic block, libraries, and hospitals, additional land of 10 km of sector 16 government multi-speciality hospital is sought by the Health Department.
The hospital covers a total area of over 12 acres of the sector which is to be part of the proposed Medical College. About 13 acres have already been set aside by the UT administration in the outskirts of the city in Sarangpur. A senior health department official informed that the process for affiliation of the proposed Medical College had already begun and the necessary documents had been submitted to Punjab University.
Currently, Chandigarh has 150 MBBS seats and 125 seats in postgraduate programs offered by Government Medical College and Hospital sector 32. In addition to this around 310 seats are available in post-graduate programs at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research. With the establishment of the new college, 100 more MBBS seats will be added to the state pool. Now the UT government is proposing to hand over the hospital to a private player so that it can be upgraded to establish a new medical college.