Shillong, Feb 14: Chief Minister, Conrad K Sangma, today inaugurated the Khliehriat 100-bed Civil Hospital in the presence of Minister, Social Welfare, Kyrmen Shylla.
Delivering the inaugural address, Chief Minister, Conrad K Sangma while expressing happiness to inaugurate the long pending requirement of the district said that it was a very important step towards providing healthcare to the general public of the State.
He said that while the healthcare services throughout the country and the State is very challenging, the State government has given unprecedented importance to the health sector in terms of manpower deployment, providing medication and improving and strengthening infrastructure.
“Through many schemes, different sub centres, PHCs and CHCs have been upgraded and many more will be upgraded as we move along and we also realized that many services can be given through the existing health centres at the grass root level without investing much by simply improving the existing centres,” he said.
He also informed that 60-70 per cent of the primary care that needs to be given can be done at the sub centre at PHC level and the government is focused on the strategy to provide services at the grass root level.
He also said that a large part of healthcare is required to focus on preventing diseases and basic things like hygiene, nutrition, good lifestyle, regular check-ups and preventive measures can help to reduce diseases which are more prevalent in today’s world.
“Realizing the importance of this the Meghalaya government has come up with a comprehensive health policy that focuses on these preventive measures and practices so that lifestyle diseases can be prevented,” he said.
He also added that there are sections in the society like infants, children and pregnant women that need special care and informed that the government accords maximum focus on social sectors like Health and Education.
The Chief Minister also expressed gratitude to the frontline workers in the health sector for their commitment and dedicated service to the people in the last two years of COVID. “It was challenging and without your commitment and support we as a State would have been able to face and overcome the challenges of COVID 19,” he said.
It may be mentioned here that the 100-bed hospital was completed in 2013 and the posts sanctioned in 2014 and has been functioning since then. During the COVID-19 Pandemic the adjacent CHC buildings were utilized as Corona Care Centres.