Pune, Maharashtra :
Patients from below poverty line (BPL) families can now get bypass surgery done for free at the Deoyani Hospital in Dahanukar Colony in Kothrud.
Shripad Naik Union minister for Ayush (independent charge), on Sunday inaugurated the centre for free bypass surgeries under a state government-aided scheme at the hospital.
“The country needs more such private hospitals which will work for a social cause. Medical practitioners should give priority to social welfare and provide benefits of government schemes to the needy,” Naik said.
The hospital is the second in the city to provide the facility of free-of-cost bypass surgeries under the Rajiv Gandhi Jeevandayee Arogya Yojana. Under the scheme, an enlisted hospital, public or private, gets funds from the designated insurance company, which has a tie-up with the state government for extending medical benefits to those falling in the BPL category. So far, the city had just one centre at the Sahyadri hospital on Karve Road which is registered under this scheme for bypass surgeries.
As the demand for such surgeries is high, patients with heart ailments have to wait for nearly three months for free treatment. “The waiting period can reduce now with one more private centre opening at our hospital,” said Shrirang Limaye, founder of Deoyani hospital.
Limaye said the hospital has also opted for another state-run scheme under which construction workers in the city will also get free medical assistance of up to Rs 2 lakh. “Almost all diseases can be treated under this scheme,” he added.
Sunil Ganu, another person associated with the hospital, said the government is providing funds for such schemes to improve health conditions of people from the financially weaker section of society. “But, information regarding these schemes is not reaching the needy persons. Citizens, political workers and medical practitioners should promote these schemes,” he said.
Speaking at the inaugural function, Pune’s guardian minister Girish Bapat appealed to the private hospitals in the city to participate and popularize these schemes so that people who are financially weak can benefit from the healthcare facilities available.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Pune / TNN / June 29th, 2015