Bengaluru: Health Minister K. R. Ramesh Kumar on Thursday told the Legislative Assembly that immediate measures will be taken to ensure all facilities that are offered by private hospitals will also be made available at Government Hospitals and he has set himself a deadline of 45 days to achieve this.

Replying to Legislators Shivalingegowda, D. Nagarajaiah and U.B. Banakara, the Minister said that the intention of the government was to stop people flocking private hospitals, where patients are made to cough up huge money. “Facilities will be provided at all district and taluk hospitals for disease detection and cure. Blood banks, dialysis machines and X-ray machines, advanced ICUs, generic medicine outlets, CT scanning and MRI machines will be set up,” he said.   

The Minister said that 76 new ambulances would be pressed into service in the State this year and added that the govt. was aware that many vehicles of the Health Department are out of order. The process to purchase new vehicles is on, he said. On Trauma Centre, he said, “Our intention is to make at least one ambulance available for every 10 to 15 km. A Trauma Centre would be established near Kunigal as it is closer to a Highway.”