Giving a huge boost to the medical sector in Barak Valley, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma recently laid the foundation stone for a 208-bed Super Specialty Hospital at the Silchar Medical College and Hospital.
To be constructed on 16 bighas of land with financial support from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the hospital will house six clinical departments: Cardiology, Cardiothoracic Surgery, Neurology, Neurosurgery, Nephrology and Urology.
The total project cost, including infrastructure and advanced medical equipment, is estimated at around ₹300 cr with construction expected to be completed within 30 months.
The hospital will feature 20 beds per super-specialty department, 14 emergency beds, 27 ICU/ICCU beds, 24 post-operative care beds, 16 pre-operative care beds, 10 dialysis beds and 25 paying cabins.
Speaking at the event, the Chief Minister highlighted Assam’s progress in medical education, “When I became Health Minister in 2006, there were only 360 MBBS seats and 150 postgraduate seats in all medical colleges in Assam. Today, the number of seats has increased to 2,000 for MBBS and 1,500 for postgraduate programmes. This progress has brought transformative changes to the State’s medical education sector. Students from Assam no longer need to go outside the State to study medicine.”
He also emphasised improvements in healthcare outcomes, noting a significant decline in maternal and infant mortality rates, “Assam has earned a notable place in the country for quality healthcare delivery. In the coming decade, our focus will be on improving the quality of medical education in the State,” he added.
Under the Assam Health System Strengthening Project funded by JICA, the Government has planned the construction of Super-Specialty Hospitals across medical colleges to enhance advanced care, including cardiac and neurological surgeries. The Chief Minister also announced the reconstruction of Silchar Civil Hospital at an estimated cost of Rs 150 cr and completion of a 500-bed hospital building within the Silchar Medical College campus by the end of the year.
Dr. Sarma also unveiled plans to replace the old main building of the college with a new 1,500-bed facility, giving the hospital a unified and modern structure. He also mentioned that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone for a new highway connecting Barak Valley to Guwahati, estimated at ₹ 35,000 cr in the next few months.
