Says J&K needs strong primary, secondary care alongside quaternary advancements
Srinagar, Aug 27: 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, Government of India, in strategic collaboration with AIIMS New Delhi and PGIMER Chandigarh, along with AIIMS Jammu and AIIMS Awantipora. The conference was 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, adding that the medical profession was characterised by continuous learning, innovation and advancement.
Referring to the concept of quaternary healthcare discussed during the summit, Omar Abdullah said the fourth tier could play an important role in decongesting tertiary care institutions. However, he 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 healthcare 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. However, gaps at the primary and secondary levels often resulted in premier tertiary institutions having to undertake procedures and treatments 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 of the healthcare system.
“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 healthcare system was essential for the successful functioning of both tertiary and quaternary institutions.
Omar Abdullah welcomed the conference held under the aegis of NITI Aayog and described the participation of leading institutions such as AIIMS New Delhi, PGIMER Chandigarh and J&K’s own institutions as an important opportunity for meaningful collaboration.
He expressed hope that the engagement would translate into sustained cooperation, knowledge-sharing and institutional partnerships, particularly as J&K works towards strengthening its advanced healthcare ecosystem in line with the vision of a developed India by 2047.
The Chief Minister said the government would have to remain equally focused on ensuring access to good-quality basic healthcare beyond the two major urban centres of 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.
He said a combination of strong primary and secondary healthcare services with an advanced level of specialised quaternary care would place Jammu and Kashmir in a stronger position to meet the healthcare needs of its people.
The Chief Minister also underlined the importance of ensuring that patients from J&K do not have to travel outside for advanced treatment. He recalled that SKIMS was established with the fundamental objective of providing the most needy patients with the best possible healthcare within J&K.
“That is what we hope going ahead as SKIMS transitions from tertiary care to the fourth tier,” he said, assuring that the government would make every possible effort, within the financial limitations of J&K, to provide SKIMS with the infrastructure required for its next phase of development.
Omar Abdullah said infrastructure remained one of the principal factors determining the ability of healthcare institutions to retain and attract highly skilled professionals. He expressed confidence in the quality of human resources available in J&K, saying its doctors, nurses and paramedical staff were second to none.
“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.
Highlighting the presence of J&K-trained doctors in every continent around the world, particularly in the Gulf and Middle East, the Chief Minister said many professionals were compelled to seek opportunities outside of J&K because of limitations in facilities and infrastructure.
He called for a concerted effort to create conditions that could facilitate a “reverse brain drain”, enabling doctors from J&K working outside to return and contribute to the healthcare system in their home state.
“How do we ensure that we provide the best possible facilities, the best possible infrastructure so that we can create a situation where tomorrow there is a reverse brain drain? Instead of exporting our doctors from J&K, we start welcoming many of them back to our own shores,” he said.
The Chief Minister said achieving this objective would strengthen both tertiary and quaternary healthcare in J&K and contribute significantly towards building a self-reliant and advanced healthcare system.
He also emphasised that the recommendations emerging from the summit should move beyond being a theoretical exercise and be translated into action on ground, practically.
“I hope that the recommendations are not only a theoretical exercise but are put in a shape where they can be given practical implementation,” he said.
Omar Abdullah said the summit had provided a valuable platform for collaboration among premier healthcare institutions, NITI Aayog, policymakers, clinicians and researchers, and expressed hope that the deliberations would result in tangible improvements in healthcare delivery and advanced medical services in J&K.
On the occasion, the Chief Minister released the book “Platinum Pearls in General Surgery Super Specialities” and the souvenir “SKIMS Journey of Transformation.” He also presented awards to nine winners of the Quiz Competition, Poster Presentation and Oral Presentation categories.
Minister for Health and Medical Education Sakeena Masood Itoo, MLA Pampore Retd 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 on the occasion.
Former Directors of SKIMS, faculty members, officers of SKIMS and officers and officials of the Health and Medical Education Department also attended the valedictory ceremony.
The summit brought together leading medical institutions, clinicians, researchers, policy makers and healthcare professionals to deliberate on advanced care, research, institutional collaboration and the roadmap for scaling tertiary healthcare into a quaternary healthcare ecosystem. (KNO)
