Andhra govt plans to set up ‘YSR Rural Clinics’ to take healthcare to doorstep of villagers

The YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government in Andhra Pradesh has come up with a unique concept of taking healthcare facilities to the doorstep of people in the villages by opening rural clinics.

Called ‘YSR Rural Clinics,’ named after former chief minister of combined Andhra Pradesh Dr Y S Rajasekhar Reddy, these village clinics would be formally launched by chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on January 26, coinciding with Republic Day.

An official from the health department familiar with the development said the rural clinics would go a long way in creating health infrastructure at the grassroot level.

“At present, healthcare in the rural areas is being taken care of by Primary Health Centres (PHCs), they are operating from the mandal (block) headquarters. Now, the government plans to set up as many as 10,032 YSR Rural Clinics to take healthcare to the villages. They are attached to the village secretariats and each clinic covers a population of 2 000,” the official said.

Each rural clinic will comprise Mid-Level Health Providers (MLHPs) who have completed B.Sc. Nursing and Certificate Programme in Community Health (CPCH), along with an Auxiliary Nursing Midwife (ANM). Even ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) workers would report to the rural clinics.

These clinics would be linked with PHCs regularly through video conferences. In the coming days, they would also be linked to laboratories. The health records of the villagers will be available in the respective village clinics through their Arogya Sri (a state government health scheme) cards. Using the QR code on them, those details can be viewed.

These details can be accessed by the nearby PHC doctors, who would visit the villages from time to time and they will be very useful while diagnosing and treating the cardholder. “Every mandal will have two PHCs equipped with facilities and staff, including two doctors, and they will be integrated with emergency health services and ambulance services.

The main task of the staff at the rural clinic is to provide 12 basic medical services and 14 types of basic diagnostic tests, and 64 types of medicines will be stored at the clinic. Further, 67 types of basic medical equipment will be available in these clinics, apart from telemedicine services, the official said.

“The government is investing ₹16,203 crore for revamping government hospitals and medical colleges across the state in order to strengthen public healthcare and health Infrastructure. The chief minister has already given the green signal for the recruitment of 14,200 doctors and paramedical staff this year, so that there is no staff crunch in the hospitals,” the official added.