JORHAT, July 4 - Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma, State Minister for Health and Family Welfare, PWD and Finance today inaugurated the Department of Neurosurgery at the Jorhat Medical College and Hospital (JMCH).
The department having state-of-the art set-up has been established at the cost of Rs 11 crore with Rs 10 crore on machinery and Rs 1 crore spent on renovating an old building of the JMCH.
The department will be initially headed by Dr Amrit Saikia, a neurosurgeon, who has been working in the JMCH since June 2015 and conducting surgeries selectively with the assistance of the surgery department.
Dr Saikia said that another neurosurgeon Dr Satyajit Rabha has joined the department and the college authorities have allotted four MBBS doctors to assist him.
A six-bed post-operative ICU has been installed in the department, Dr Saikia said. He said that in the past three years he had attended over 3,000 OPD (Out Patient Department) and emergency cases under limited facility.
In his address at a function organised on the occasion, Dr Sarma said that the inclusion of the neurosurgery department was a milestone not only for JMCH, but for the health sector of the State.
He praised Dr Saikia for his "untiring efforts" in rendering service to patients in the absence of a neurosurgery department and his contribution in establishing the department.
It may be mentioned here that Dr Saikia of Majuli reportedly had left a lucrative job outside Assam to serve in his home state.
Dr Sarma hoped that the department will become a centre of excellence and draw patients from other parts of the State and also inspire specialists of other departments to come to their home state and serve.
The minister asked the district administrations across Assam to felicitate doctors found to have discharged commendable service during the Independence Day Celebrations function.
"The society must acknowledge the contributions of doctors who work with full dedication and serve the needy�, the minister observed.
