SRIKAKULAM: To strengthen the medical and health services in tribal areas, Seetampeta ITDA, following the directives of the State government, is planning to construct a super specialty hospital in Kotturu mandal. The State government has sanctioned a super speciality hospital to each ITDA in the State, fulfilling the election promise.
As they got the nod from the State government, the ITDA and medical and health officials have selected Kotturu mandal headquarters for the construction of super speciality hospital. They are planning to upgrade the existing 30-bed community health centre as super speciality hospital.
Super speciality services are available only at Government General Hospital in Srikakulam, which is affiliated to medical college at present. With super specialty hospital being proposed at Kotturu, services of specialists will be made available under the ITDA purview. Doctors from tribal mandals with no alternative refer patients to Srikakulam and Visakhaptnam for specialist and emergency services where the patients have been facing troubles like lack of money for reaching the referral hospitals. A few deaths were reported previously due to the delay in reaching Srikakulam and Visakhapatnam hospitals, particularly in delivery cases.
As part of the efforts to strengthen medical and health services in tribal areas, the ITDA, with the support of the Medical and Health department, upgraded all 27 primary health centres as 24/7 PHCs by granting additional staff and infrastructure. Similarly, the Seetampeta CHC was developed with state-of-the-art facilities like a corporate hospital.
The Area Hospital is situated at Palakonda, which is very close to the Agency area, said ENV Naresh Kumar, Deputy DM&HO, ITDA. He also said that the State government had granted Rs 20 crore for the construction of the super speciality hospital in the ITDA purview. The ITDA, in consultation with medical authorities, has selected Kotturu for the proposed project. Andhra Pradesh Medical Infrastructure Development Corporation (APMIDC) officials visited the place for its construction, he added.
Tenders are likely to be invited in the next few days. Apart from advanced investigations like CT scan and ECG, the services of specialists from neurology, nephrology, gynaecology and orthopaedics will be available at the super speciality hospital He also said that ITDA PO Saikanth Varma had decided to develop Patapatnam CHC with ITDA grants to meet the needs of tribal people.