The success of this plan will mean more doctors and betterment of treatment facilities.
The Centre is examining if hospitals at major ports spread out across the coastline can be modernised and developed into medical colleges. This plan, which will create more doctors and ensure better services for patients, includes the Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) hospital in Wadala.
The Union Ministry of Shipping has established a committee under Dr Vedprakash Mishra, Chancellor of Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences (Deemed University), Karad, to study the hospitals at all major ports and suggest a model for their development and modernisation on a PPP basis at no cost to these ports. The 13-member committee, which also includes doctors and elected representatives Samir Meghe and Ashish Deshmukh among others, will also explore the set-up of medical colleges affiliated to these hospitals.
Mishra, who is also the Chairman of the Medical Council of India's (MCI) academic sub-committee, told dna that 12 port trust hospitals had been identified. These included hospitals at the ports in Mumbai, Tuticorin, Kochi, Visakhapatnam, Chennai and Kolkata, he added. These hospitals have over 200 beds.
"(The committee will look into the) upgrade of the port trust hospitals for augmentation of services and academic utilisation, thereto including starting of medical colleges on a PPP basis," said Mishra.
The Employee State Insurance Corporation has also started medical colleges in its hospitals.
A four-member committee appointed by the state under Mishra has already submitted its report examining how government medical colleges could be established through the PPP mode in districts that did not have these institutions by upgrading district hospitals to teaching colleges. This is to be done on a PPP basis without making the state incur a heavy financial burden.
The committee has recommended that the state convert its district hospitals into medical colleges through PPP with societies, trusts or not-for-profit companies.
In return, the state will get a quota of 25% seats in these medical colleges for admission at nominal fees and an equal number of patients in the affiliated hospital will be treated free under various government schemes. To cross-subsidise these government medical college seats, the private party will be earmarked 15% of the annual intake of students as an NRI quota towards which higher fees will be charged as compensation.
The admission to the remaining seats in the medical college can take place through the NEET and the remaining (75%) patients in the hospital can be treated at subsidised, if not government, rates.
Maharashtra has 16 government medical colleges having 2300 MBBS seats out of a total of 6695 undergraduate seats in the state. Postgraduate courses are offered in 12 government medical colleges, which have 612 degree seats. This is in addition to 156 postgraduate diploma seats being offered in these institutions.
Medical seats for the academic year 2016-17
Postgraduate degree courses
Government: 612
BMC: 444
Central government institutions: 83
Total: 1139
(In addition, 261 diploma seats are also offered in these institutions)
MBBS intake capacity
State government: 16 colleges: 2300
Municipal corporations: Five colleges: 610
Central government: Two colleges: 240
Unaided/private: 15 colleges: 1770
Minority unaided: One college: 100
Deemed universities: 10 colleges: 1675
Total: 6695 seats
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