BHUBANESWAR: More than six years after the Odisha government announced its ambitious affordable healthcare project to provide quality treatment at remote areas, establishment of multi-specialty hospitals in districts having poor health infrastructure continue to be a distant dream.
Despite being billed as the country’s largest public-private partnership (PPP) initiative in the health sector, the project has suffered inordinate delays, primarily due to lukewarm response from promoters and then land allotment hurdles.
During the Make-in-Odisha conclave in November 2018, the state government had unveiled plans to set up multi-specialty hospitals at 25 locations with an investment of Rs 1,300 crore in PPP mode. This would have added 2,900 new hospital beds. Considered a model for expanding healthcare into smaller towns, the project was expected to boost access to quality treatment in under-served districts.
Five years later, the government decided to set up hospitals at four locations, Angul, Barbil, Bhadrak and Jharsuguda in the first phase, and accordingly signed MoUs with private players in October 2023. The delay then was attributed to Covid-19 pandemic.
A consortium of Utkal Healthcare Pvt Ltd and Silicon Institute of Technology were to develop 200-bed multi-specialty hospital each at Angul and Barbil while another consortium of Cygnus Medicare Pvt Ltd and Omnilink Technology Pvt Ltd will set up 100-bed hospitals at Bhadrak and Jharsuguda.
According to the agreement, the government was to provide land and capital assistance while the private partners would construct the facilities and run them for 30 years. These were to be the NABH-accredited multi-specialty hospitals in the state, offering 24x7 trauma care, OPD, IPD and super-speciality services.
The ground reality, however, tells a different story. Sources said construction at the identified sites is moving at a snail’s pace. “Initially, there were no takers for the project as the model did not attract many private players. Later, land identification and allotment created delays. The hospitals were expected to be operational by November 2026, but at the current pace it will take at least two more years,” said sources.
The delay is taking a toll on patients as critical cases from the remote districts are being referred to Cuttack or Bhubaneswar, burdening the existing tertiary hospitals. “People here continue to struggle for specialised treatment. Those with cardiac or trauma emergencies often lose precious hours travelling to the cities for treatment,” rued Prafulla Samal, a retired teacher from Bhadrak.
With the 2026 deadline approaching, the Health and Family Welfare department has decided to engage an agency to monitor the construction of the PPP project. Health officials insisted that the construction will pick up pace as the hurdles have been resolved.
Special secretary of Health department Dr Bijay Mohapatra said the hospitals at the four locations are in construction phase. “Such a model is being experimented in the country for the first time. We are regularly reviewing its progress and pushing the private partners to adhere to timelines. An agency will be engaged to monitor the project for a period of three years,” he added.