Patna: Almost five months after the cabinet decision, the Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS) in Patna, the Bihar government’s premier medical institution, is now gearing up to offer free of cost treatment to the patients.
It has appointed as many as 75 junior residents (JRs) doctors to manage the increased flow of patients, thronging the IGIMS once its start free treatment regime. The JRs will be deployed in the emergency and emergency care units (ICU), which are expected to witness huge rush for efficient treatment in view of increasing medical bills of private hospitals.
Also Read: IGIMS to offer free of cost treatment to all, Govt to bear expenses
Currently, the hospital working with 37 different departments receive daily inflow of around 5000 patients from across the state and outside. The IGIMS is most preferred destination for patients vis-a-vis other government hospitals like AIIMS, Patna and Patna Medical College Hospital (PMCH) owing to better facilities and specialisation in treatment. Most of the people taking recourse to the IGIMS hail from the financially weaker sections.
Medical superintendent, IGIMS, Manish Mandal said that the free of cost treatment is likely to start next week after the hospital received around 3000 medicines, reagents and medical kits from Bihar Medical Services and Infrastructure Corporation Limited (BMSICL), as decided by the government. “We have sent the requisition to the BMSICL for keeping the stock available and ensure uninterrupted supplies,” said Mandal.
Also Read: After AIIMS’ fiasco, Bihar govt okays mega plan to develop DMCH
He said that the NEET-qualified JRs, will be deputed in emergencies of cardiac, neuro, pulmo, cancer, and general emergency departments, which received major load. “The free medicare will be available to only those admitted in the emergencies or in-ward patients. Outdoor patients will have to pay normal charges for treatment,” clarified the medical superintendent.
Cabinet decision for free treatment
The state cabinet had on September 25, 2023 approved the proposal for free treatment of patients at the IGIMS, “The patients enrolled for treatment will not be charged for medicines, surgery, pathological and other tests and bed charge for admission in general wards,” additional chief secretary (cabinet) S Siddharth had stated after a meeting of the state cabinet.
Also Read: IGIMS gets nod to build addl. 20-bed ICU in critical medicine wing
Siddharth had said that patients were, however, deemed to pay for the registration charge and bed charges for admission in private and deluxe wards. Currently, all services in the IGIMS, which sees thousands of patients every day from across the state, are chargeable, though marginally lesser than being charged by private medical institutions.
