Deputy Chief Minister, Punjab O P Soni on Friday virtually inaugurated the Radio Diagnostic and Laboratory Centers of District Hospitals Patiala, Sangrur and Barnala.Speaking on the occasion Mr. Soni said that the work of ultra modern labs have been started under Public Private Partnership between Krishna Diagnostics and Health and Family Welfare Department of the Punjab Government.He said that Punjab Government has made a tireess efforts to provide affordable radiology and laboratory facilities to the people of Punjab. These hi-tech labs would provide services to all sections of the people throughout Punjab. Earlier, needy patients had to travel to big cities to get good diagnostic tests and it was costly and time consuming as well. Such services were much needed during the Covid-19 epidemic.
Mr. Soni further divulged that these Radiology Diagnostic facilities are being opened in all the 22 Districts of Punjab and 3 Sub Divisional Hospitals Khanna, Phagwara and Rajpura. The project will include 25 CT scans and 6 MRI machines.The cost of construction of Radio Diagnostic Centers is Rs.100 crore. He said that this was the largest PPP based project in India.Deputy Chief Minister informed that tests under this project will be conducted at rates 65 to 70 percent below the market rate where poor and vulnerable patients will be tested free of cost. Similarly, under Laboratory Diagnostic Projects, 30 state-of-the-art laboratories and one State Reference Laboratory and 95 Collection Centers have been set up across the Punjab. The cost of construction of these Laboratory Diagnostic Centers is Rs. 25 crore. 5 percent of poor and vulnerable patients will be tested free in these laboratories.
He said that similar Radio Diagnostic Centers at Mohali, Ropar, Sri Fatehgarh Sahib, Rajpura and Amritsar have already been opened for public convenience and also started at Patiala (CT Scan / MRI / Laboratory) Sangrur (CT Scan) and Barnala (CT Scan). The Scan Centers have been inaugurated today and all the remaining Centers will be opened by March 31, 2022.He said that Laboratory Diagnostic Centers - Mohali, Batala and Amritsar have already been opened for the convenience of the people, Patiala Center is being inaugurated today and all the remaining centers will be opened by 31st March 2022.Mr. Soni said that under the Cardiac Care Center project, PPP based Cardiac Care Centers would be set up at Civil Hospitals in 4 districts of the state namely Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Sangrur and Bathinda. The cost of this project would be Rs. 15 crore per center.The process of setting up these centers will begin soon.