Bengaluru, Sept. 13 -- In a move aimed at taking specialist healthcare closer to rural communities, the Karnataka government is preparing to partner with government and private medical colleges to improve services at taluk hospitals, community health centres and primary health centres.

The plan seeks to address the acute shortage of specialist doctors at healthcare facilities outside district headquarters. At present, the shortage often forces patients to travel to district hospitals for treatment, increasing the workload on these facilities.

As part of the proposed model, medical colleges will enter into agreements with the government and adopt health facilities. Each medical college will be expected to support one taluk hospital as we...