Tripartite agreement for 200-bed ACF at CIHSR

Correspondent KOHIMA, JUN 21 (NPN) : Following the signing of a tripartite agreement between the State government, Christian Institute of Health Sciences & Research (CIHSR) and Kolkata-based Glocal Healthcare Systems Private Limitedon June 10, ground work for the proposed additional 200-beddedAcute Care Facility (ACF) at CIHSR, has already started and the entire project is expected to be ready soon.

State nodal officer for ACF, Sachin Jaiswal told Nagaland Post that the State government was funding the project, and that work had already started.

He disclosed, that Glocal Healthcare Systems Private Limited, in its presentation, had projected a low cost construction project having a time bound completion period of three to four months.

Jaiswal said the department of health & family welfare (DoHFW) accepted the ACF after which necessary clearance was obtained from the Law and Justice department.

It may be mentioned that state chief minister Neiphiu Rio had disclosed addition of 176 beds for covid patients in CIHSR with a budget of Rs.30 crore.

The NPF legislature party had sought clarification on whether the project was entirely new or to be housed in existing facility in CIHSR and how Rs.30 crore was being provided to a private hospital and whether any tender was floated for the project.

However, at a press briefing on June 4, principal secretary DoHFW, A.S. Bhatia stated that the project was pre-fabricated and will be 200-bedded due to addition of 24-bedded paediatric ICU ward for children.

Meanwhile, Director CIHSR Dr. Sedevi Angami, told Nagaland Post that the addition of 200-bedded facility was part of the preparation against expected third wave of Covid-19 pandemic.

Dr. Sedevi clarified that CIHSR was chosen for the project since the land and building belonged to the State government.

He said as per a tripartite MoU, the state government has leased out the erstwhile proposed yet incomplete Referral Hospital project to CIHSR for 30 years, of which 14 years had already completed.

Dr. Sedevi said the state government could still reclaim back the CIHSR campus if it wished since it is the owner.

He also said it has been his dream to turn CIHSR into an Ayushman Bharat hospital to ensure that the poorest of the poor got the best facility within the State itself with people -friendly protocols in this regard.

Dr. Sedevi said CIHSR was currently like the biggest ‘Ayushman Bharat’ provider in Nagaland by giving more service than any hospital and to ensure that poor patients got the best and most modern treatment facility.He expressed the hope that his dream would be realised with government’s support.

He said since CIHSR was an autonomous set-up, it does not depend on government for anything and was wholly capable of managing the 200 bedded ACF with its own manpower.

CIHSR can become a medical college

CIHSR, previously Referral Hospital, was handed over on a 30-year lease through a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding between the state government, Christian Medical College Vellore and Emmanuel Hospital Association (EHA), could be converted into a fully functional medical college.

Dr. Sedevi Angami, Director of CIHSR has been the propeller of the institute since its formation, in an interview to Nagaland Post, said that postCovid-19, if the government so wished, CIHSR could be converted into a fully functional medical college after addition of 200 beds to the existing 200 beds, to total 400 beds for a medical college.

He said as CIHSR is an autonomous institute, it was effective and accountable to the people of Nagaland, the state government and, most importantly, to God.

He said converting into a fully functional medical college would require approximately Rs 200 crore which could be sourced from the Centre. He said the fund would be for some additional infrastructure and also getting 130 medical faculty to teach MBBS students.

He also disclosed that Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore, which was currently one of the top medical institutions in the country, was willing to mentor the process of converting the institute into a medical college.

Sharing details, Dr. Sedevi said that CIHSR is governed by a society comprising the State Government, Christian Medical College, Vellore and Emmanuel Hospital Association (EHA) with the state’s chief secretary as society president. He said the governing body of the society holds a meeting once a year while the board meeting is held thrice a year to review all activities of the institute.

Dr. Sedevi maintained that CIHSR belonged to the people of Nagaland and as stewards of the institute, the staffs were mandated to meet the healthcare needs of the State and North-eastern region.
He said CMC send hundreds of its experienced staff from Vellore to teach and train the staff of CIHSR.

He said with CMC Vellore being repeatedly awarded best employer of the year in the country, Dr. Sedevi, said CIHSR emulated the best practices and processes of CMC in its operations.

He further said that the state government does not give any fund to CIHSR, except for its share of specific projects or those related to specific national programmes.

Similarly, as no national or foreign funding agency provided any funds, all expenses needed for running the institute ,including paying salaries to staff, were generated from hospital operations, he added.

Dr. Sedevi claimed that all income from operations was spent on staff salaries, charity to poor patients, outreach programmes and in further development of the institute.

He also said CIHSR paid highest salaries to its staff in the market to its staff, barring the doctors who get much less than the current market standards. He said doctors were paid less than other hospitals since they joined CIHSR with a sense of commitment.

Every year, CIHSR spent over Rs. 3 crore from its income on charity and subsidising poor patients, even as patients’ bills were written off if they could not pay.

At least four financial audits were done in a year and presented to financial committee. Dr. Sedevi also said CIHSR was the only mission hospital in the country with a finance manual that was followed in letter and spirit and thus considered one of the best organisations in terms of financial management processes and accountability by the auditors.

Currently, he said CIHSR has 478 staff, with 407 of them being Nagas and the rest from other North-eastern states and a handful from Vellore and other States.

Dr. Sedevi said CIHSR has partnerships with Nagaland Baptist Church Council (NBCC); Eleutheros Christian Society (ECS) in Tuensang; Ao Baptist Arogo Mungdang (ABAM); Catholic church, Berean Medical Centre, Ukhrul; several NGOs, schools and colleges, besides initiating Arukah network Northeast cluster to work among people with disabilities and partnering with several NGOs in this regard.

He said CIHSR also runs a cancer centre with radiotherapy, supervised and mentored by CMC Vellore, whose teams regularly visit the institute to provide guidance.

CIHSR also has a dedicated ICU, NICU, Hemodialysis unit, cosmetology unit, 24×7 emergency service, endoscopy centre, lithotripsy machine and a state-of-the-art laboratory with strict quality assurance programme with CMC. Also, the institute runs a special school for children with special needs.
He said staff of CIHSR regularly go out to schools and churches, besides getting in touch with NGOs, to scout children with learning difficulties. “A palliative care team also goes every week to houses to provide home-based care to those who are terminally ill or cannot come to the hospital,” he added.

Sedevi also said that CIHSR planned to have an integrated centre for disability and was currently working towards acquiring funds for the same, adding it was also working towards setting up a regional paramedical institute with several paramedical and allied healthcare courses.

Dr. Sedevi said at least 18 senior staff of CIHSR had administrative training and good understanding of the whole spectrum of hospital management. He said CIHSR has a transparent HR process wherein a 360-degree performance appraisal of its entire staff was done every year.

According to Dr. Sedevi, CIHSR staff are its greatest assets on whom the institute invest heavily for progress in all fields. They are regularly sent outside the State for various workshops, conferences and seminars while some are sent to CMC Vellore or some other institution to learn new skills.

Source: http://www.nagalandpost.com/tripartite-agreement-for-200-bed-acf-at-cihsr/235272.html