The Greater Chennai Corporation will strengthen the public health infrastructure, offering improved services for residents in all the 200 wards of the city.
A total of 236 health workers will be recruited for Corporation hospitals shortly. A total of 140 health and wellness centres will be developed in addition to the existing urban primary health centres in various parts of the city. Plans are afoot to recruit 140 doctors and other workers for the centres shortly.
On Friday, a large number of candidates gathered on the premises of Ripon Buildings for job interviews.
A total of 1,000 candidates appeared for the interviews to fill 236 posts, including 21 medical officers, 25 staff nurses, 17 data entry operators, 10 lab technicians, 11 X-ray technicians, two operation theatre assistants, six pharmacists, and 144 auxiliary nurse midwives (ANM).
The Corporation officials sent call letters to 394 candidates who applied for the posts of medical officers and 333 of them turned up.
A total of 227 out of 314 staff nurses, who received call letters, appeared for the interview. Only 185 out of 292 candidates, who received call letters for the post of data entry operators, appeared for the interview. A total of 98 candidates appeared for the interview to fill six vacant pharmacist posts.
Of the 144 vacancies in auxiliary nurses posts, only 44 candidates appeared for the interview. Once the 236 vacancies are filled, services are expected to improve in various parts of the city. Each of the urban primary health centre get more than 100 outpatients every day. More than 15,000 people benefit from corporation hospitals every day.
After the launch of health and wellness centres at 140 locations, more services are expected to be offered for diabetes and hypertension.
Corporation Commissioner Gagandeep Singh Bedi said the civic body was augmenting the workforce with funding from the National Health Mission. “The Corporation has taken steps to deal with the COVID-19 situation which had peaked in May. COVID-19 has been brought down to a great extent because of the efforts of our team of doctors and paramedical staff. Now that we have got funds under the National Health Mission, the Corporation is taking more doctors and paramedical staff on a contractual basis,” Mr. Bedi said.
