Chief Minister addresses valedictory of Quaternary Healthcare & Research Summit at SKICC; says weak foundation, not lack of a fourth tier, is the real pressure on SKIMS; calls for “reverse brain drain” of J&K doctors
Srinagar, Aug 27 (BuzzBytes): Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday called for a balanced and integrated healthcare strategy that combines the development of advanced quaternary care with strengthening of primary and secondary healthcare services across Jammu and Kashmir. Addressing the valedictory function of the Quaternary Healthcare & Research Summit: 4th J&K Medical Conference-2026 at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC), the Chief Minister said that while scaling tertiary healthcare into the fourth tier would enhance the capacity to provide highly specialised treatment, it must be accompanied by focused efforts to strengthen healthcare delivery at the grassroots. The three-day summit, held from August 25 to 27, was organised by the Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), Soura, under the aegis of NITI Aayog, in strategic collaboration with AIIMS New Delhi and PGIMER Chandigarh, along with AIIMS Jammu and AIIMS Awantipora, themed “Scaling Tertiary into Quaternary Healthcare: A National Strategy for Advanced Care.”
The Chief Minister said providing quality healthcare to citizens was one of the fundamental obligations of the government. Referring to the concept of quaternary healthcare discussed during the summit, he said the fourth tier could play an important role in decongesting tertiary care institutions, but cautioned that merely creating a higher tier would not adequately address the pressures confronting premier healthcare institutions unless the underlying gaps in the primary and secondary system were addressed. “While there are certain aspects of quality care that can certainly be improved by upgrading SKIMS to a quaternary healthcare institution, the fact is that it will not resolve the pressures that SKIMS finds itself under. These pressures are not because of a top-down vacuum; they are because of a weakness at the foundation level,” he said.
The Chief Minister observed that institutions such as SKIMS were essentially referral hospitals meant to cater to patients requiring highly specialised treatment, but gaps at the primary and secondary levels often resulted in premier tertiary institutions having to undertake procedures that should ideally be available at lower levels of healthcare. He cited routine surgical procedures such as gallbladder and appendicitis surgeries as examples of the burden being placed on tertiary institutions because of deficiencies in the lower tiers. “This defeats the purpose of the entire three-tier model of tertiary, secondary and primary healthcare,” he said, stressing that strengthening the foundation of the system was essential for the successful functioning of both tertiary and quaternary institutions.
Omar Abdullah welcomed the participation of leading institutions such as AIIMS New Delhi, PGIMER Chandigarh and J&K’s own institutions, expressing hope that the engagement would translate into sustained cooperation and institutional partnerships as J&K works towards a developed India by 2047. He said the government would have to remain equally focused on ensuring access to good-quality basic healthcare beyond Jammu and Srinagar. “We need to ensure good quality healthcare in rural J&K. I am not saying that we can either target or expect to provide SKIMS quality care in rural J&K. That is not the aim. But what we need to be able to ensure is that we can provide good quality basic healthcare beyond the two twin capital cities of J&K,” he said.
The Chief Minister underlined the importance of ensuring that patients from J&K do not have to travel outside for advanced treatment, recalling that SKIMS was established with the fundamental objective of providing the most needy patients the best possible healthcare within J&K, and assured that the government would make every possible effort, within J&K’s financial limitations, to provide SKIMS the infrastructure required for its next phase. He said infrastructure remained one of the principal factors determining the ability of healthcare institutions to retain and attract highly skilled professionals, and expressed confidence in the quality of J&K’s human resources. “Our human resource is second to none. Our nurses, our paramedics and more than anything else our doctors are the best that you will find,” he said. Noting that J&K-trained doctors practise on every continent, particularly the Gulf and Middle East, he called for a concerted effort to create conditions for a “reverse brain drain” — enabling doctors working outside to return home. “Instead of exporting our doctors from J&K, we start welcoming many of them back to our own shores,” he said, adding that he hoped the summit’s recommendations would translate into practical implementation rather than remain a theoretical exercise.
On the occasion, the Chief Minister released the book “Platinum Pearls in General Surgery Super Specialities” and the souvenir “SKIMS Journey of Transformation,” and presented awards to nine winners across the Quiz Competition, Poster Presentation and Oral Presentation categories. Minister for Health and Medical Education Sakeena Masood Itoo, MLA Pampore and retired Justice Hasnain Masoodi, Additional Chief Secretary to the Chief Minister Dheeraj Gupta, Director SKIMS Prof Dr Mohammad Ashraf Ganie, Dean SKIMS Medical College Prof Dr Fazlul Q Parray and Organizing Co-Chair Prof Dr Aejaz Ahsan Baba were present, along with former Directors of SKIMS, faculty members and departmental officers—(BuzzBytes)
