Kerala government hospital staff pattern to be revised: Minister

The government has decided to revise the staffing structure in government hospitals, which dates back to the 1960s, to reduce the excessive workload of hospital staff, Health Minister K. Muraleedharan said.

He said that in coordination with the finance department, new posts of doctors and support staff will be created and new appointments will be made in hospitals including primary hospitals.

Mr. Muraleedharan was speaking after laying the foundation stone for the new critical care block at Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram here on Tuesday.

The new intensive care unit is one of 631 such facilities being set up across the country under the Pradhan Manthri-Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM) to increase intensive care capacity.

He stated that in addition to filling the existing vacancies, new posts will also be created at the same time. He said doctors’ associations raised concerns when the government decided to introduce round-the-clock specialty services in district and general hospitals, but that their concerns were resolved through discussion.

He said that all steps have been taken to ensure proper availability of medicines in government hospitals and that the government is committed to modernizing public sector hospitals, which continue to be the main source of healthcare for common citizens.

A new 36,000 square foot intensive care unit. it is being built over three floors to provide emergency specialist care for critically ill patients, with the design allowing for two more floors in the future.

HLL Lifecare Limited is in charge of the project, which is expected to be completed within 18 months

On the ground floor, there will be a casualty, a maternity ward, an X-ray room, an ultrasound room and a smaller operating room. On the first floor there will be a dialysis unit, isolation rooms and various inpatient wards, on the second floor there will be facilities for intensive care and surgical services, such as an intensive care unit, a highly dependent unit and an operating theater complex.

An administrative sanction of ₹20.97 crore was awarded to HLL for construction and related services and ₹2.78 crore to Kerala Medical Services Corporation Limited for setting up a medical pipeline system, modular operating theater equipment and installation of necessary medical equipment.

Principal Secretary (Health), Sharmila Mary Joseph, Director Medical Education KV Vishwanathan, Director Arogya Keralam Mission Renu Raj and senior administrators of MCH were present.

Meanwhile, public health activists have warned that creating modern facilities without regard for the critical human resources needed to operate such facilities could lead to the creation of more idle resources.

Public health activist B. Ekbal, in his FB post, said that the Ministry of Health should take the lead in getting funds from the state budget for the creation of human resources and the operational costs of a modern intensive care facility.

Published – 22 Sep 2026 21:18 IST