‘Joypurhat Medical College to open soon’

Joypurhat Medical College will be launched soon, with the recruitment and training of teachers already underway, said Health and Family Welfare Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Hossain.

He also said the government is planning to introduce “Health Hubs” and “Health Wellbeing Centres” to overhaul rural healthcare services and ensure medical care for people in marginalised communities.

The minister made the remarks while inspecting Joypurhat General Hospital on Sunday.

He said health and family planning services would be provided under one roof at each Health Hub, with doctors appointed there. Health workers would also visit households to conduct blood pressure and diabetes tests and help detect breast and cervical cancers at an early stage.

Regarding the expansion of healthcare facilities, the minister said the number of beds at upazila-level hospitals is being increased to 151. Dialysis services are also being introduced, with 10 dialysis machines being installed at district hospitals and 50 machines at district-headquarters hospitals.

On the shortage of teachers at the medical college and the ICU, the minister said teachers would be recruited and trained quickly to reopen the currently closed ICU and launch the new medical college.

He said negligence in duty would not be tolerated, even as the quality of healthcare services improves.
The minister said the government plans to implement these initiatives within the next two to three years.

During his visit, he inspected doctors’ attendance registers and the medicine stock registers at Joypurhat Hospital. He also warned the storekeeper and supervisor over some irregularities.

District Commissioner Al Mamun Mia, Civil Surgeon Al-Mamun, Modern Hospital Superintendent Dr Rashed Mubarak Jewel, Dr Jebel Rahman, Joypurhat Press Club President Abubakar Siddique, General Secretary Shamim Kadir, and doctors, nurses and journalists were present during the visit.