Goa health minister Rane says govt to appoint caretakers in hospitals

Bicholim: Health minister Vishwajit Rane said that state govt will attempt to appoint caretakers in hospitals to provide services to needy and poor patients at subsidised rates.

“We see in Goa Medical College how when serious patients get admitted his relatives are forced to spend Rs 500 or more per day to arrange a caretaker. We will see that services of caretakers are provided at subsidised rates,” Rane said at the mega health camp held in Mayem on Sunday.

Rane said, govt is elected to serve the people. It will be an endeavour of his govt that relatives of financially weak patients are not burdened during hospitalisations.

The minister said he has a cancer patient in his house, and being a health minister he can afford to arrange the best of healthcare and services. “But what would a common man in a similar situation do,” said Rane.

He said that since Goa govt understands the pain of the people, it makes available the injection which costs Rs 4 lakh free of cost to cancer patients.

Govtis planning to change the public healthcare scene in the state within the next six months, Rane said

Mayem MLA Premendra Shet said around 2,063sqm of land has been acquired to construct a full-fledged primary health centre in Mayem.

Since the community health centre at Bicholim has a high patient load, a primary health centre is needed in Mayem with good facilities.

GMC dean Dr Shivanand Bandekar, Mayem sarpanch Krishna Chodankar, teams of doctors from GMC and Goa Dental College, were present at the camp.

Thousands of patients benefited from the mega camp.