The Bihar health department has upgraded 135 primary health centres into 30-bed community health centres across all 38 districts, adding specialist posts and hospital staff to expand access to specialised treatment in rural areas.
The upgrade was announced in a department communique issued on Tuesday under the state government’s Saat Nishchay-3 scheme. The upgraded centres will be developed as specialised healthcare facilities, allowing patients in block-level areas to access more services without depending entirely on district hospitals or larger cities.
Specialist posts in orthopaedics, ophthalmology and ear, nose and throat care have been created at each of the 135 centres. The department said the staffing structure is intended to support the functioning of the facilities as 30-bed community health centres rather than as primary-level facilities with more limited services.
Each upgraded centre will have 47 posts across 24 categories. These include a deputy superintendent, specialist doctors, general physicians, GNM nurses, senior pharmacists, laboratory technicians and physiotherapists. Other hospital management staff will also be appointed as part of the expanded structure.
One post each for a dental hygienist and a dresser, which had been sanctioned earlier, will be retained at the centres. The staffing arrangements are expected to create a broader care team covering clinical treatment, diagnostics, nursing, pharmacy, rehabilitation and day-to-day hospital administration.
The centres are located in blocks across Bihar’s 38 districts. Their expansion is aimed at improving access to specialised healthcare closer to rural communities and reducing the need for patients to travel to district-level facilities or bigger cities for treatment.
The health department also expects the upgraded centres to reduce patient pressure on district hospitals. The announcement does not specify the individual locations, construction timelines, operational launch dates or the recruitment schedule for the sanctioned posts. These details will determine when the upgraded capacity becomes available to patients.
The upgrades form part of Bihar’s Saat Nishchay-3 scheme, under which the state is developing the centres as specialised facilities. Further implementation will depend on staffing and the operationalisation of the 30-bed services at each location.
