DW BUREAU / Chandigarh

Under the leadership of Health Minister Arti Singh Rao, the Health Department of Haryana has entered into agreements under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model to begin MRI scan services at District Civil Hospitals in Kurukshetra and Panipat, and CT scan services at District Civil Hospital, Charkhi Dadri and Sub-District Hospital, Bahadurgarh.

These agreements have been signed with M/s Navneet Saxena, M/s Satyakiran, and M/s HealthMap.

This initiative is part of Chief Minister Sh. Nayab Singh Saini's vision to provide high-quality healthcare services to every citizen of Haryana.

With this step, people in these regions will benefit from better diagnostic services and faster treatment. These services are expected to start within the next three months.

The Health Minister said the government aims to expand CT and MRI scan services to every district in Haryana. "This is just the beginning. The state government is committed to ensuring that such facilities are made available in all districts. We will expand these services in a phased manner so that every citizen can access quality healthcare," she added.

CT scan services under the PPP model were first introduced in 2015, initially in 4 districts, and are now operational in 17 districts. MRI services, also started in 2015 under PPP mode, are currently available in 5 districts.

Soon, these services will be expanded to all districts. The state is currently conducting about 1.5 lakh CT scans and 65,000 MRI scans annually.

These diagnostic services are offered at 50?60% lower rates than market prices for general patients and are free of cost for patients from BPL and urban slum patients from Haryana, Beneficiaries receiving disability pension from Haryana Government, Economically poor patients not covered under any free category, Scheduled Caste patients from Haryana, Economically Weaker Sections (as per Haryana Government's reservation policy), Unidentified victims of roadside accidents, Haryana Government employees, pensioners, and their dependents, and Persons living with HIV (PLHIV). Haryana has been a leader in using the PPP model to strengthen healthcare infrastructure and services. Through this model, the state has successfully provided services like dialysis, CT scans, MRI scans, and cath labs.

Notably, Dialysis services are currently available in all 22 districts of Haryana. Since October 2024, dialysis is free of cost for all categories of patients. Around 3,000 end-stage kidney disease patients are benefiting from this service, with the state conducting about 1.8 lakh dialysis sessions annually. Moreover, advanced cardiac cath lab services, which usually cost Rs 1.5 to 2 lakh per patient in private hospitals, are now available in four district civil hospitals. These services are free for SC/ST, BPL patients, and government employees and their dependents, and offered at 60?70% discounted rates for others.

(editor@dailyworld.in)