Patna: Bihar Assembly Speaker Prem Kumar on Thursday said he would take up with state health minister Nishant Kumar a proposal to establish a satellite centre of Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS), Patna, in Gaya.The assurance came during a meeting in Speaker’s chamber with heads of major medical institutions in Bihar. IGIMS director Dr Binde Kumar placed the proposal before Speaker, highlighting the need for a satellite centre in Gaya.Binde said the proposed centre would provide super-speciality healthcare closer to home for residents of Magadh and Shahabad divisions as well as people from neighbouring districts of Jharkhand. It would also reduce dependence on distant cities for treatment of serious ailments, he said.Assembly secretary in-charge Sanjay Kumar Singh told TOI that Speaker assured Binde that he would discuss the proposal with the health minister. Assembly Secretariat will also send a letter to the health department in this regard.AIIMS-Patna director Dr Raju Agrawal, Binde, PMCH superintendent Dr Rajeev Kumar Singh and NMCH superintendent Dr Rajeev Ranjan Sinha attended the meeting.The meeting also focused on better coordination among hospitals for providing medical facilities to legislators, other public representatives and their dependent family members. The participants discussed prompt action, as per rules, in cases involving seriously ill patients and the appointment of nodal officers at medical institutions.Hospital heads informed Speaker that nodal officers had been designated and their details shared with Assembly Secretariat.Priority treatment for Assembly Secretariat officers and employees and measures to reduce delays in settling medical reimbursement bills were also discussed.PMCH officials said ICU capacity in the medicine and surgery departments would be increased to 60 beds after shifting to the newly constructed building.
