RIMS upgrades infrastructure, healthcare services

Our Correspondent
Imphal, Sep. 9 (EMN): The Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), the only medical college from Northeast which made it to the list of top 50 medical colleges in India, has been witnessing drastic change in its infrastructure and healthcare services.

In the last few days, a number of new faculty blocks, equipment and machines, world class operation theatres, high end 3-D laparoscopy machines, halls and lifts were inaugurated at the premier medical institute located at Lamphelpat in Imphal.

On Friday, a departmental store, PAC & Pain management clinic of department of Anaesthesiology, elevator adjacent to operation theatre and a utility block were inaugurated.

A newly developed Dr. Kamal Hall and new faculty block of the Psychiatry department were also opened in presence of acclaimed film maker, Aribam Syam Sharma.

Attending the day’s utility block inauguration, director, RIMS, Prof. A Santa Singh said the steps to open departmental store and utility blocks within the RIMS campus were taken up considering the convenience of its students and employees.

Interestingly, the ladies’ hostel of RIMS was named after the state flower and boys’ hostel after hills of state. The idea is to help spread awareness about the state’s rich nature and culture through the students who come from various parts of the country, the director said.

Since its establishment, the 50-year-old institute has so far produced a total of 3,656 doctors including 2101 specialists, 75 clinical psychologists, 157 dental surgeons and 300 BSc nurses.

Interestingly, the OPD (Out-Patient Department) attendance jumped to 7.67 lakh patients, a 94% increase over the previous year figure of 1.3 lakh patients.

There are about 35,396 registered doctors against the requirement of 45,000 in the entire Northeast as per the World Health Organisation’s recommended doctor to population ratio of 1: 1000.

Presently, there are about 16 medical colleges (including eight in Assam, two each in Manipur & Tripura) in Northeast India including Sikkim. Last year, first ever homegrown private medical college in Northeast Shija Academy of Health Sciences, was inaugurated at Langol in the outskirts of Imphal.