First Urban Health And Wellness Centre Opened In Odisha Capital

Bhubaneswar: In order to provide health services to common people, the first Urban Health and Wellness Centre (UHWC) opened at VSS Nagar in Odisha’s capital on Friday.

According to sources, Mayor Sulochana Das inaugurated the wellness centre in the presence of MLA (North) Sushanta Kumar Rout, BMC Commissioner Vijay Amruta Kulange and Khurda CDMO Artabandhu Nayak.

The UHWC has been constructed under the National Urban Health Mission (NUHC).

Under the mission, UHWCs have been envisaged to decentralise primary healthcare services below the existing UPHC level in NUHM-targeted cities and act as a standalone facility in smaller towns and semi-urban areas.

The new centre will act as a separate health facility in the peri-urban area and will be the first port of call for accessing primary healthcare services in the locality, BMC officials said.

It will also help improve access to high-quality healthcare and minimise out-of-pocket expenditure suffered by citizens on healthcare services and decongest secondary and tertiary healthcare facilities in the city.

BMC officials said the UHWC will have outpatient care for a range of Primary Health Care Services as per CPHC (Comprehensive Primary Health Care) guidelines as well as additional healthcare services at the community level. The state capital will get 18 UHWCs, said sources.

It is pertinent to mention here that two UHWCs were opened in Berhampur city on August 16.