The Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) north Bengal organised the first edition of the North Bengal Healthcare Summit in Siliguri on Friday in a bid to develop the city and north Bengal as a whole as a health hub.

Siliguri mayor Gautam Deb and Siliguri-Jalpaiguri Development Authority chairperson Dilip Dugar were present at the event along with leading healthcare professionals and hospital brands from across India.

“This summit is about bringing different stakeholders, doctors, hospitals, policymakers, educators and students together to create a road map for affordable, accessible and quality healthcare,” said Umang Mittal, the chairman of the ICC north Bengal, while addressing the summit.

Mittal underlined the gaps and opportunities in the health sector in north Bengal.

The summit, which was held for six hours, featured six different sessions, covering subjects like AI in healthcare, robotic surgery, single-specialty models, medical tourism, affordable healthcare, access to quality care and the emergence of “docpreneurs” or doctors who are also healthcare entrepreneurs and their journey from white coats to boardroom suits.

“The summit gave us the opportunity to examine the clinical challenges and also systemic issues like infrastructural gaps, affordability and integrated care. By engaging hospital promoters, doctors, policymakers and students together, we could lay the intellectual foundation required to transform healthcare delivery in north Bengal,” Shekhar Chakraborty, who chairs the ICC north Bengal healthcare committee, said.

The organisers said that the event saw representation from Siliguri’s entire healthcare community, ranging from doctors, hospital owners to diagnostic centres and healthcare brands.

“Stakeholders of the healthcare sector from each of the districts of north Bengal were present at the summit,” said a source.