Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, July 10: Governor NN Vohra, who happened to be the Chairman of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board (SMVDSB) has assigned the task of making operational the prestigious multi-specialty hospital of the Board at Kakryal near holy town of Katra to a four members high level committee comprising former and present Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of the Board.
Named as Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence (SMVDIME), it would be a multi-specialty hospital and was likely to be commissioned by the end of this year or start of the next year depending upon availability of faculty and installation of infrastructure.
“The construction part was almost complete,” official sources told the Excelsior.
The Governor has constituted four members high level committee to suggest the steps to be taken for making the hospital operational, the mode of running it, multi-specialties to be opened, hiring faculty from within and outside the State and other connected issues.
Dr S S Bloeria, Vice Chancellor of Central University, Jammu and former CEO of SMVDSB would head the panel. It comprised B B Vyas, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister and Finance Department, R K Goyal, presently on deputation to Centre and Navin K Choudhary, CEO of SMVDSB and SASB and Principal Secretary to Governor.
While Mr Choudhary is present CEO of two Shrine Boards (Mata Vaishno Devi and Amarnath Ji) and Principal Secretary of Governor, all other three members of the Committee had served on the same posts.
The multi-specialties which have been proposed for the SMVDIME included Cardiology, Urology, Oncology, Orthopedics, Surgery, Medicines, Gynecology and Pediatrics. Initially, the SMVDIME had proposed only four super specialties for the hospital including Oncology, Cardiology, Urology and Orthopedics with major focus on Oncology.
However, the experts had pointed out that these four super specialties would require support of other major Departments after which the Shrine Board authorities decided to make it a full fledged hospital by adding Surgery, Medicines, Gynecology and Pediatrics as super specialties. All these super specialties would be made operational simultaneously.
It would be a 230-bedded hospital, sources said.
They added that the construction part of the hospital was almost complete or was nearing completion while infrastructure was also in the process of installation. Most of the infrastructure has already been installed. As far as faculty was concerned, the high level committee would decide on whether to hire the faculty from outside as the super specialists for some of the specialties won’t be available within the State.
“The Shrine Board could go for super specialists from outside the State on contractual basis,” sources said, adding that a decision to this effect was likely to be taken shortly so that the process for hiring the faculty and para-medical staff was set into motion.
The seven kilometers approach road from holy town of Katra to Kakryal, the venue of the multi-specialty hospital, has already been constructed.
Since several crores have been incurred at the construction of the hospital and it would require a lot of expenditure to run a number of super specialties, the committee has also been mandated on suggest as to whether the hospital should be run on Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode.
“In any case, the treatment in the hospital would be affordable,” sources said, adding that even if the cost was imposed on patients for treatment or the diagnosis, it would be far less than the private sector.
As far as seeking permission for the Medical College was concerned, the Shrine would take a decision on this only after the hospital was made fully functional so that all pros and cons had been assessed by then.
Though some religious organisations and Trusts were running hospitals in the State, the SMVDIME would be the first multi-specialty hospital to be run by the Shrine Board.
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