Nagaland minister for health and family welfare S. Pangnyu Phom said the Naga Hospital Authority Kohima (NHAK) will provide support to run the Nagaland Medical College until the college’s construction is completed.
Phom said that the NHAK will play a vital role in the uplift of the 500-bed medical college and hospital.
The minister said this while interacting with the doctors and nurses during his inspection of the hospital on Monday, the minister’s press secretary said in a release on Tuesday.
The under-construction Nagaland Medical College at Phriebagie in Kohima with 100 academic seats is expected to be functional by 2020 or 2021.
The foundation stone of the college was laid by Nagaland chief minister Neiphiu Rio on March 3, 2014.
Phom informed the Nagaland Assembly in February that the Centre has released Rs 153.03 crore of the total project cost of Rs 189 crore so far.
He told the doctors and nurses that the major renovation work in NHAK under Nagaland Health Project will start soon and urged every staff member and patients to consider the hospital as their own property.
The minister asked the hospital staff to strive to make the hospital one of the cleanest hospitals in the state.
Naga Hospital in Kohima, established in 1905-06 as a 10-bed dispensary, is one of the top hospitals in Kohima.
It has been serving the people, not only from Kohima district but the whole of the state, especially those from rural areas who cannot afford to go to private clinics and hospitals for treatment.
Phom expressed his anguish over the rise of land encroachers within hospital campus.
He said the land patta issuing authority should carefully verify the land before issuing any patta.
He appealed to the citizens to be “more responsible”.
The minister also inspected the ongoing construction of the Terci Care Cancer Centre of the hospital and asked the management to expedite the works to make sure that the project is completed at the earliest.
The Nagaland health minister expressed gratitude to Kohima Ao Baptist Arogo, a church, for voluntary construction of the patients’ guest house in the hospital campus.
He termed the contribution of the guest house a “good gesture”.