The World Bank will provide funding to the Assam State Secondary Healthcare Initiative for Service Delivery Transformation (ASSIST) Project under the Department of Medical Education and Research, Government of Assam. The total project cost is Rs.2196.500 crore (Debt- Rs.1757.20 crore, State share- Rs.439.30 crore) and the duration of the project is six (6) years. The main objective of the project is to improve district level health services in Assam by improving quality, access and management capacity in selected district hospitals.

The specific objectives are as follows:
i) Improve quality and access to secondary health facilities by improving physical infrastructure and institutional reforms in district hospitals.

ii) Build responsive health services to meet local demands and needs, following global and national best practices for redesigning service delivery and innovation.

iii) Strengthen management capacity and accountability in district hospitals through outcome-based financial approaches.

iv)Support coordination and complementarity with national programs focused on improving service delivery and health care infrastructure.

The main components of the project are:
i) Construction of new 150 bedded district hospitals in 10 districts with operating costs for 2.5 years

ii) Improve the performance of existing health infrastructure in 25 district hospitals based on comprehensive gap assessment.

iii) PPP in health to improve quality and efficiency by contracting specialist services and contracting related services after performance-based contracts.

iv) Strengthen hospital management cadre by developing comprehensive capacity building protocols.

v) An integrated HMIS, EMR. Strengthen management and data systems including systems.

vi) Support improvement/ pilot innovation in pre-service training in nursing colleges

vii) Outcomes based financing to improve the quality of healthcare with performance indicators around quality of care, patient satisfaction, diagnostics.