Patna : CM lays stones of 106-bed eye hosp & trauma centre

Patna: Chief minister Nitish Kumar on Friday laid foundation stones of a 106-bed superspecialty eye hospital at Rajendra Nagar and a trauma centre at Jayaprakash Narayan Hospital in Rajvanshinagar in Patna.

He also announced formal commencement of construction works on the two projects.

Addressing a function on the occasion, Nitish said soon after coming to power in November 2005, he had decided to develop the existing Rajendra Nagar hospital as an eye hospital and for that his government had contacted Dr Rajyavardhan Azad of AIIMS-Delhi. CM said he was very happy that the work for a super-specialty eye hospital was being commenced. He said the existing OPD at the Rajendra Nagar hospital would continue till the superspecialty hospital gets ready.

Recalling a series of steps taken by the NDA government for improving healthcare and hospital system in Bihar, Nitish said the overall situation in the state health sector was awful before he formed government in November 2005.

“In a survey conducted by his government in February 2006, it was found that only 39 patients on an average visited a primary health centre (PHC) in a month. To improve the condition, we posted sufficient number of doctors, paramedical staff and nurses at each PHC and made arrangements for necessary items. The then Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat had inaugurated the arrangements for free medicines at government hospitals in August 2006,” the CM said.

Nitish said the government got another survey conducted in October-November 2006. It was found that the number of patients visiting one PHC had reached 1,000 to 1,500 per month.

“Today, the average number of patients visiting a PHC per month has reached to 10,500,” the CM said.

Health minister Mangal Pandey, principal secretary (health) Sanjay Kumar and MLA Arun Kumar Sinha also addressed the function.