Patients facilitation centre at Visakhapatnam operational, Odisha CM provides Rs 10 lakh financial assistance

Bhubaneswar: Odisha government on Friday has decided to keep the Patients Facilitation Centre opened at Andhra Pradesh’s Visakhapatnam operational for another year (2023-24).

An amount of Rs 10 lakh from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund will be provided for operating the centre, a CMO release said.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday approved the proposal and said that the move will continue to provide medical facilities to the poor and tribals traveling from Malkangari to Visakhapatnam.

Worth mentioning here that the state government set up a patient support center in Visakhapatnam in 2016. As Visakhapatnam is very close to Odisha’s Malkangari district and has quality medical facilities, most of the patients from the district go there for treatment.

Patients from Malkangiri are provided with free accommodation and food at the patient support center in Vizag. Between 2016 and 2022, the state government provided assistance of Rs 55 lakh from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund to this medical center. Rs 25 lakh was provided in 2016 and Rs 10 lakh each in 2020, 2021, and 2022.