MRI, CT centres coming up in 25 govt hosps

Chandigarh: To facilitate all essential tests of MRI, CT and pathology under a single roof, the Punjab government has decided to set up centres on PPP mode in 25 government hospitals for the facility of needy patients as such diagnostics services in Punjab are mostly concentrated in the private sector.

Health minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said the centres for diagnostic purposes would be set up in 22 district hospitals and 3 sub-divisional hospitals of Khanna, Phagwara, Rajpura. With the availability of these facilities, people do not have to visit private centres for paying hefty charges.

Sidhu said all other tests were already being conducted free of cost in government labs. A process had been started to meet the necessity of people as well as to provide all tests with fixed rates across the state. He claimed discounts in Punjab was the highest when compared to similar PPP projects in other states, including Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Now, CT, MRI and pathological services rates under the state’s PPP project were expected to be among the lowest in the nation.

Only government medical colleges in Punjab provided advance radiology services of CT and MRI, so far.