Boost To Affordable Healthcare As Government Empanels 1,006 New Hospitals Under Ayushman Bharat Since 1 April

In a major development towards ensuring access to affordable and quality healthcare to all, the Government has empanelled more than 1,000 hospitals under its flagship Ayushman Bharat programme since 1 April, taking the total count of empanelled hospitals to more than 21,541 across the nation, reports Times of India.

Among the newly empanelled 1,006 hospitals, 789 are in private sector. The private hospitals accounts for 78.4 per cent of the total empanelment. The rest of the newly empanelled hospitals belong to the public sector. Meanwhile, it should also be noted that, of the total 21,451 hospitals enrolled under the programme, nearly 56 per cent belong to the public sector.

Among the newly empanelled hospitals, the highest are based in Chattisgarh, Maharashtra, Assam, Punjab, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh (UP).

It should be noted that the surge in empanelment of hospitals comes as the National Health Authority (NHA), which is the apex body responsible for implementing the Ayushman Bharat programme, had recently launched an express empanelment process to bring a larger number of private hospitals under the programme's ambit.