According to a senior health department official, the Odisha government plans to establish four new medical colleges and upgrade 147 hospitals as part of the ‘Ama Hospital’ programme, in addition to developing a cancer care institute.
According to an official statement, the state government has sanctioned Rs 750 crore under the ‘Ama Hospital’ programme for the establishment of new medical colleges in Kalahandi, Talcher, Jajpur, and Kandhamal.
“The government was in the process of establishing dedicated cancer and cardiac care hospitals in Jharsuguda in a PPP mode,” Shalini Pandit, secretary health and family welfare, said. She further added that “seven new Medical Colleges have been inaugurated in the past few years while four more medical colleges are in the process. The capital hospital Bhubaneswar has been upgraded to a post graduate institute.”
Furthermore, the establishment of the Odisha University of Health Sciences is underway, according to Pandit, who added that affordable healthcare projects for the establishment of hospitals providing specialist care in four locations, including Angul, Barbil, Jharsuguda, and Bhadrak, are being planned in PPP mode.
According to the statement, Tata Memorial Center is constructing a 200-bed cancer hospital on the NISER campus in collaboration with the Government of Odisha and the Department of Atomic Energy.
“Odisha is the first and only state in the country to mandate free treatment in all public health facilities,” Pandit said. She went on to say that the free services include free drugs, diagnostics, OPD, IPD, surgery, and ICU in all government healthcare facilities, from primary health centres to medical college hospitals.
Prasanta Patnaik 
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