Indian Medical Association wants state backing for small rural hospitals

KOZHIKODE: The state government should ensure support to small and medium rural hospitals across the state. Once upon a time, the rural hospitals, with one or two doctors, and a few nurses, had been the backbone of our health sector. However, the change in trends by promoting elite luxury hospitals had sounded the death-knell for countless rural hospitals. During the last few years, as many as 574 small and medium hospitals were closed as they found it tough to survive the cut throat competition posed by the new hospitals with lot of investment and modern diagnostic facilities.

It is high time we support the rural health system with some aided-hospital status as we have the aided schools in the education sector. It can be a different model, though concept is the same. Electricity can be on subsidised rate, government can provide interest-less loans, land can be donated by state and medicines too, functioning strictly under set guidelines.