A flood of new hospitals in India
04-Nov-15, India Today
The only children's hospital in Kashmir, GB Pant Children Hospital, located in the Badami Bagh cantonment area of Srinagar, presented a horror story in 2012 when its high incidence of child mortality hit the headlines, forcing the then CM Omar Abdullah to initiate an inquiry into the deaths. Just as things started improving, the devastating floods of 2014 damaged the hospital's infrastructure posing a serious threat to the life of neonates and infants.
%20Abid%20Bhat.jpg "A flood of new hospitals in India (c) Abid Bhat")
Image: Abid Bhat
There is a newfound thrust-both on the part of the central and state governments-on creating health infrastructure in the state. The new government led by Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed has sanctioned another 200-bed children's hospital in Bemina on the outskirts of Srinagar.
The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has also identified five districts in the state for new medical colleges besides two cancer institutes, one each in Kashmir and Jammu. Two 200-bed maternity hospitals, one each in Kashmir and Jammu, are also in the pipeline.