District hospitals to be linked through telemedicine

Jalandhar, Jun 23 (UNI) All the district hospitals in Punjab would be connected through telemedicine by March next year, Punjab Planning Board Vice Chairman said here today.

Accompanied by Punjab Medical Education Principal Secretary Jagjit Puri, Planning Board Vice Chairman Dr J S Bajaj, after inspecting the Punjab Institute of Medical Sciences here, told mediapersons that all the district hospitals in the state would be connected with the medical colleges in their respective areas through telemedicine to provide quality and timely treatment at district level.

As a pilot project, he said, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh has been connected with three hospitals situated at Patiala, Dasuya and Bathinda in the state.

The estimated cost for the project would be around Rs 3.5 crore to 4 crore which also include the cost of software and hardware for the system, Mr Bajaj said.

He also stressed the need for developing full fledged library with latest books of medical sciences in all the hospitals.

UNI