The Vellore Corporation is set to inaugurate 15 new urban health and wellness centres soon to ensure easy availability of healthcare facilities to residents in small neighbourhoods.
Corporation officials said the centres were built under the National Urban Health Mission (NUHM) of the Central government to provide outpatient services in each locality in the mornings and evenings. “The centres will address the health needs of residents at micro-level. Chief Minister M.K. Stalin is expected to inaugurate these facilities through video-conference soon,” Mr. Ganesan, Chief Health Officer (CHO) of Vellore Corporation, told The Hindu.
Built at a cost of ₹25 lakh, each centre will have a doctor, two staff nurse and two health workers. On an average, each centre will cater to about 7,000 to 8,000 residents in a locality and provide various screening tests for oral cancer, cervical cancer and breast cancer among others. Besides offering general check-ups, the centres will conduct vaccination programmes for children and monitor the health of pregnant women. They will also conduct yoga classes twice a week.
Most of these centres were built on government lands near the Palar. One of them has been built near the burial ground in Muthu Mandapam behind the new bus terminus, off the Chennai-Bengaluru Highway (NH 44). Many residents had objected to the construction of a wellness centre near the burial ground as patients would hesitate to visit the facility. A Corporation official cited lack of public land in the locality for choosing the spot next to a burial ground.
Along with Vellore Corporation, Gudiyatham and Pernambut municipalities are also set get three new urban wellness centres.
At present, the Vellore Corporation has four primary health centres at Makkan, Konavattam, Thorapadi and Kaspa. A few PHCs have been under construction for the past few months.
