Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan of Kerala has said that cooperative hospitals in the State were on a par with the private sector and help in curbing the exploitation of poor people by private hospitals to a major extent.
Achuthanandan said cooperative hospitals were being set up by the LDF with the objective of preventing exploitation of the poor by the private sector. Major changes were being witnessed in the State’s health sector after the LDF came to power.
Some of them were the introduction of the referral system in medical colleges; the doubling of salaries of medical teachers; and the ban on private practice. As many as 115 community health centres were upgraded to national standards, VS said.