S. Kota Area Hospital Doubles Capacity To 100 Beds

Visakhapatnam: Minister for health Satya Kumar Yadav inaugurated the newly constructed S. Kota Area Hospital building and a five-bed dialysis centre in Vizianagaram district on Monday. The hospital building, constructed at a cost of Rs 12.60 crore, has doubled the facility's capacity from 50 to 100 beds.

During the event, the minister announced the government's plan to provide medical insurance coverage of `25 lakh to every family in the state. The minister said the government is working to establish an efficient and comprehensive healthcare system to achieve a healthy Andhra Pradesh. He credited Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu with formulating the ambitious health insurance plan, calling it "unparalleled anywhere else in the country."

The minister also virtually inaugurated a dialysis centre in Palakollu Seethampeta during the event, which the MSME minister, Kondapalli Srinivas, attended. Minister Satya Kumar Yadav said the health insurance scheme is expected to benefit approximately 1.43 lakh families across Andhra Pradesh. He emphasised the government's commitment to kidney patients, noting that 65 PM NDP centres (Pradhan Mantri National Dialysis Programme) have been established statewide. The government currently spends about `20,000 annually per kidney patient and provides a monthly pension of `10,000.

MSME minister Kondapalli Srinivas highlighted that the S. Kota Area Hospital, though sanctioned in 2019, had faced delays under the previous administration. "We have completed the building and made it operational within 18 months of coming to power," he said, adding that the upgraded facility will save patients from having to travel to the district headquarters or King George Hospital for treatment.