Nizamabad Government General Hospital (GGH) will be developed as a referral hospital, with super-speciality services in cardiology, neurology, nephrology and urology to be introduced in a phased manner, said Health Minister C. Damodar Rajanarsimha on Monday (August 3).

The hospital will also get an MRI machine equipped with advanced technology, with MRI services expected to be made available to patients soon, the Minister said during a review meeting with MLAs from Nizamabad district at the the Secretariat in Hyderabad.

During the meeting, the Minister reviewed healthcare services and infrastructure across Nizamabad district, including the Government Medical College, GGH, Area Hospitals, Community Health Centres (CHCs), Primary Health Centres (PHCs) and sub-centres. Availability of doctors and other healthcare personnel and the progress of ongoing development works were also reviewed.

Banswada MLA Pocharam Srinivas Reddy said elected representatives were receiving dozens of calls every day from people seeking beds at major government hospitals, including Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS), Gandhi Hospital, Osmania General Hospital and Nizamabad GGH. “Strengthening government hospitals in the districts would help reduce the patient burden on major tertiary-care hospitals in Hyderabad,” he said.

Several requirements pertaining to healthcare facilities in individual constituencies were also raised during the meeting. Responding to a request for a PHC at Ankapur, the Minister said the facility would be sanctioned. The government would also examine proposals to upgrade the Nandipet PHC into a CHC and establish a Trauma Care Centre at Indalwai, he said.

Recruitment of specialist doctors in departments, including General Medicine, General Surgery and Radiology, would be completed by the end of August, he said, adding that measures would be taken to address shortages of doctors and other healthcare personnel across the district.