By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, October 6, 2023: The Odisha government on Thursday signed agreements with private healthcare players for building five affordable multi-specialty hospitals in the state.

These hospitals, which will have 100 to 200 beds, will be set up in PPP mode in Angul, Barbil, Bhadrak and Jharsuguda, officials said.

Incidentally, this is first-of-a-kind initiative by any state to develop healthcare facilities in PPP (public private partnership) mode, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik claimed.

“Private healthcare operators have a major role in fulfilling this mandate. Therefore, we are encouraging private investments in the health sector to set up institutions at district levels,” he added.

Referring to the state’s Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY) , Naveen said that the development of healthcare infrastructure is a priority of his government and BSKY has been a great support for one crore families.

According to the Memorandum of Understandings (MoU) signed by the Health and Family Welfare Department, a consortium of Utkal Healthcare Pvt Ltd and Silicon Institute of Technology will develop 200-bed multispecialty hospitals at Angul and Barbil, and a consortium of Cygnus Medicare Pvt Ltd and Printlink Computer & Communication Pvt Ltd will set up two 100-bed hospitals in Bhadrak and Jharsuguda.

The government would provide land and capital assistance for the construction, besides the required infrastructure, while the private players will construct the hospitals, deploy manpower and provide healthcare service for 30 years, according to the MoUs.

A 120-bed cancer care super-specialty hospital will be built by Vizag Hospitals & Cancer Research Centre Pvt Ltd in Jharsuguda. For this hospital, the government will provide land, construct the hospital and provide equipment, while the private partner will deploy adequate manpower, operate, maintain and manage it for 15 years.

The state will ensure timely support for early commissioning of these hospitals, Patnaik said.

These five hospitals will be developed at an investment of nearly Rs 500 crore, and generate employment for more than 3,500 people, officials said.