BALANGIR: Admission to the Balangir Medical College and Hospital (MCH) will begin from this academic year. A team of members of Medical Council of India (MCI) is expected to visit the college and hospital between March and April for inspection.
Reviewing the infrastructure and other facilities at a meeting in presence of Balangir Collector N Tirumala Nayak, Secretary of Health and Family Welfare Dr Pramod Kumar Meherda said the admission to different courses of the new medical college will start from September. Chief District Medical Officer (CDMO) and Dean of the new medical college were present at the meeting.
The State Government has upgraded the district headquarters hospital (DHH) to MCH by increasing the bed capacity from 200 to 300 which is required to obtain MCI permission for running a medical college.
The Government has also appointed more than 50 assistant professors for the medical college and created a new post of medical superintendent to look after the hospital affairs replacing ADMO post.
In November 2017, a team of MCI also inspected facilities at the under-construction medical college building and reviewed preparedness of the DHH which will serve as the medical college for the first three years.
The Centre had approved establishment of five Government medical colleges and hospitals at Balasore, Koraput, Balangir, Baripada and Puri in 2014.While medical colleges at Koraput and Baripada have started functioning from 2017, the other three are yet to get MCI nod. Establishment of a Government medical college was a long-standing demand of locals.