Guwahati: The Medica Group of Hospitals will embark on an expansion spree in the state by setting up more hospitals to cope with the expected rush of patients following the roll out of Ayushman Bharat - National Health Protection Mission (NHPM) for the rural poor and identified urban workers on September 25.

Around 70 per cent of the population or roughly 55 crore people in the country will benefit from the scheme, according to the chairman of the Medica Group of Hospitals, Dr Alok Roy.

"Altogether 30 per cent of people in the country are covered by hospitals while the remaining 70 per cent don't have access to medical care for lack of money. This segment of the population will get treatment through the Ayushman Bharat scheme, which is a once in a century phenomenon. Over one crore of the population slide below the poverty line because of huge medical expenses. Government hospitals are expensive too owing to the high cost of medicines, which have to be bought from outside. The Rs 5-lakh medical care expense covered by the scheme will lead to more people going in for operations that are expensive and beyond their capacity," said Dr Roy.

"There will be an improvement in the quality of life for the poorest of the poor. Any patient from the state can go to any hospital in the country. Private hospitals will play a major role in the implementation of the scheme. Tertiary care facilities are limited in the state. We are going to increase the number of hospitals in Assam," Roy added.

Medica Group of Hospitals has one hospital in Tinsukia. More hospitals will be set up in major cities and towns of the state, according to Roy.

Roy said for the scheme to become a successful universal health coverage scheme in the long run, the vision will be to strengthen the primary and secondary healthcare system within the country in far-flung villages and make them socially inclusive in a superior public healthcare delivery system.

He also spoke of identifying and focussing on the critical success factors, allocating the optimum budgetary support, incentivising all stakeholders, working cohesively with healthcare providers and rejecting red tape to cover all the beneficiaries.