BHUBANESWAR:In order to promote secondary level healthcare facilities at affordable cost, the Odisha Government has decided to set up 20 new hospitals in 19 districts under Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode in the State.The hospitals to be developed under Affordable Healthcare Project would be accredited by National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers (NABH) and have at least 50 per cent of the beds in general ward.
While the hospitals would be empanelled under existing insurance and assurance schemes, the in-patient medical services for the ‘select’ category patients will be provided under different Government schemes.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has approved the project that would generate employment opportunities for over 10,000 people, mostly in para-medical sector benefiting women.Once set up, additionally 2,700 beds would be available for patients. The State has 18,500 beds in 525 public hospitals and 17,500 beds in private hospitals.
The hospitals to come up at Puri, Jeypore, Barbil, Angul, Baripada, Bhadrak, Balangir, Jharsuguda, Kalahandi, Phulbani, Dhenkanal, Boudh, Nuapada, Malkangiri, Nabarangpur, Sonepur, Rayagada, Paralakhemundi, Rairangpur and Kendrapara will cover 11 high priority districts.The hospitals will be opened on Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) model with a concession period of 30 years (excluding the construction time of around 2.5 years) that can be renewed subject to satisfactory performance.
A Health official said the private partners will design, build, finance, equip, operate, maintain and manage the hospitals after obtaining all permits and clearances. The Government will facilitate clearances, provide land at token charges and Viability Grant Funding (VGF) besides other incentives under the Healthcare Investment Promotion Policy (HIPP), 2016, he said.While the hospitals at Jeypore, Baripada, Balangir and Jharsuguda will be constructed on Hub model and have 200 beds each, 16 others will be built on Spoke model.
The hospitals at Puri, Angul and Barbil will have 200 beds and the rest will have 100 beds each.
“The project is among the most ambitious ones taken up by any State Government. It would have very high socio-economic fallouts for the State. The hospitals to be built at a cost of around `1,000 crore will meet 56 per cent of bed gap across districts that have 55 per cent of the State population,” the official added.