Gujarat has approved four brownfield medical colleges under the public-private partnership (PPP) model, with existing government hospitals in Kheda, Mahisagar, Botad and Gir Somnath set to be upgraded into linked medical education and healthcare facilities. The proposals were approved by the state health and family welfare department on Thursday.
The projects will involve selected private institutions developing modern medical colleges and hospitals around existing government healthcare infrastructure. The stated objective is to improve the availability of specialist doctors at government hospitals and enable residents to access modern medical treatment within their own districts, according to a statement issued by the department.
In Kheda district, Shri Gayaprasad Jain Charitable Trust has been selected to develop the medical college and hospital. In Mahisagar, the project will be undertaken by Shri Swaminarayan Vishwamangal Gurukul, Kalol, under Swaminarayan University.
Shri Chanakya Education and Charitable Trust, Veraval, will develop the facility in Gir Somnath, while Delta Millennium Medicare Pvt Ltd, Bhadiyad, Morbi, has been selected for the project in Botad district. The four institutions will work with the existing government hospital infrastructure in their respective districts.
The state government has stipulated that the selected institutions must continue all existing free services at the hospitals. They will also be required to provide free treatment to pregnant women and children aged 20 days to one year.
The facilities must operate dialysis units with at least 10 beds and provide immediate free treatment to trauma and accident patients. These conditions link the medical college projects to essential hospital services, rather than limiting the PPP arrangement to medical education or specialist training.
Health minister Praful Pansheriya said the initiative was intended to strengthen the availability of specialist doctors in government hospitals and improve access to modern treatment for district residents. The government has also said that a new patient welfare committee will be formed for each hospital under the chairmanship of the respective district collector.
The committees will oversee patient-oriented services at the hospitals. The approval establishes the four locations, private institutions and service conditions, while the statement does not provide project costs, construction timelines, proposed student intake or operational commencement dates. Further implementation details will determine how the brownfield upgrades are carried out within the existing public healthcare network.
