Planned 7 yrs ago, heartcare centre at Palwal still on paper

Bijendra Ahlawat

Palwal, July 6

The proposal for setting up a heartcare centre under the public-private partnership (PPP) mode at the Civil Hospital here continues to remain on paper as the work on the project is yet to begin.

According to sources in the Health Department, though the land for the centre has been identified and an amount of Rs 10 crore has been sanctioned, the project has failed to take off. The authorities had planned the project seven years. A similar centre was opened in Faridabad in 2017.

Besides, a five-bed ICU unit has been planned, but the authorities have failed to resolve issues related to final approvals for setting up the facility.

“Residents have been left with no option but to visit private hospitals for treatment related to heart ailments. They have to pay two to three times more at private hospitals compared to government facilities,” said Mahender Singh Chauhan, a resident of Palwal.

He said with the population of the district reaching 15 lakh, the number of residents suffering from heart-related ailments is on the rise due to various reasons, including sedentary lifestyle.

“In the absence of specialist doctors like cardiologists and heart surgeons in government hospitals, the demand for setting up a heart centre has grown in the past few years,” said an official, who did not wish to be named.

To set up heartcare centres in selected cities, the state government has inked a pact with a private hospital chain.

Under the pact, the government provides infrastructure like space at Civil Hospitals to the hospital chain for setting up these centres. At these centres, a cath lab has been built.

Under the PPP mode, these heartcare centres offer angioplasty. At these centres, government health card owners and patients belonging to the BPL category in the state can get stents free of costs.

The patients belonging to the general category have to pay 50 per cent of the treatment expenses that are charged by private hospitals. The heartcare centres have a coronary care unit and a cardiac intensive care unit.

Faridabad Chief Medical Officer Dr Vinay Gupta, who also holds the charge of the Palwal Civil Hospital, said there is no update about the heartcare centre project at Palwal.

Pact in place between state govt, pvt hospital chain

• To set up heartcare centres in selected cities, the state government has inked a pact with a private hospital chain.
• Under the pact, the government provides infrastructure like space at Civil Hospitals to the hospital chain for setting up these centres. At these centres, a cath lab has been built.
• Under the PPP mode, these heartcare centres offer angioplasty. At these centres, government health card owners and patients belonging to the BPL category in the state can get stents free of cost.