Jammu, 28 August (H.S.): Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today 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.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Krishan Kumar