Chennai: Tamil Nadu has launched a new nonprofit foundation aimed at drawing corporate and individual donations into the state’s public hospital network, as the govt seeks to close persistent gaps in infrastructure and equipment.On Tuesday, chief minister C Joseph Vijay inaugurated Nalam Tamil Nadu (www.tnhealthfoundation.org), a platform designed to let corporations, charitable trusts, alumni of medical colleges and individual donors such as patients to contribute funds toward upgrading govt hospitals. Alongside the launch, he handed over appointment orders to 751 doctors and 1,393 health inspectors and inaugurated newly constructed medical equipment and buildings built at an estimated cost of ₹139.47 crores.
The initiative comes as the state’s public health system already handles an enormous patient load at its 36 govt medical college hospitals, 37 district headquarters hospitals, 286 other govt hospitals and 2,336 primary health centers. Together, these hospitals serve about 8.09 lakh outpatients and 74,591 inpatients daily, with 1,089 deliveries in govt facilities each day.These hospitals have 1.3 lakh health workers, including doctors and paramedics. The state already offers high-end procedures such as liver, kidney and bone marrow transplants, cochlear implants, and lung and heart transplants at no cost to patients through the chief minister’s comprehensive health insurance scheme.
The new foundation is meant to extend that standard of care uniformly to every district hospital in the state. “While GHs have been delivering quality health care, we still have a long way to go,” said Health Minister K G Arunraj. “Many GHs need basic facilities such as clean toilets, boundary walls and residential quarters for doctors and nurses. We also need high-end equipment such as dialysis machines and linear accelerators,” he said.
The donation drive, he said, was an invitation to a broad cross-section of society. “We appeal to corporate companies, businesses, philanthropists and the public to donate generously for the improvement of health services,” he said. Donors would retain control over how their contributions are used, he said. “Donors can choose where and why they want to donate. The process is quick, safe and transparent.”
Soon after inauguration, Caplin Point Laboratories and Apollo Hospitals donated a ₹1 crore each, and Teal Titan Engineering and Autumation Limited donated ₹60 lakh towards civil work in govt hospitals. A resident from Kodingayur, Sathya, wife of Karthikraja, who delivered at the Govt Hospital for Women and Children donated ₹1000.
