The announcement by Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma of increasing the number of medical colleges from the current count of 13 to 30 by 2029 is a giant leap in the health sector in Assam. Doctors to be produced by these medical colleges reciprocating such transformative initiatives by rendering selfless service in rural and remote areas of the state will be critical to achieving the desired objective. Chief Minister Sarma’s visionary emphasis on expanding medical education infrastructure through the establishment of more medical colleges has led to a significant increase in intake capacity in MBBS courses in the state to 1600 now from 726 in 2014. Availability of adequate doctors is not only crucial to maintain the ideal doctor-patient ratio but also to ensure that every health institution in the state functions smoothly to deliver the best healthcare services to the people. The COVID-19 pandemic laid bare the vulnerability in the health system and how the lack of adequate healthcare professionals adds to the challenges during such a health emergency. The availability of doctors and other healthcare professionals in healthcare centres in rural areas continues to be an issue, but the problem cannot be wished away until the number of doctors the state adds annually does not increase to match the increase in the number of such centres to cater to a growing population. Expeditious completion of the construction of the medical colleges under construction and those in the pipeline is expected to ease the situation. Strengthening of public healthcare services plays a key role in reducing out-of-pocket expenditure (OOPE). Often the people in rural areas flock to medical colleges in the state even for ailments that could be treated in a primary health centre or a community health centre if it functions at capacity strength with adequate doctors, nurses and paramedics. As a result, the patient’s family incurs avoidable expenditure in transportation and accommodation which increases the OOPE. Apart from creating the required infrastructure to increase MBBS and PG doctors, nurses and paramedics, decentralised growth of quality diagnostic services in each healthcare institution and in government medical colleges is of paramount importance so that patients do not have to rush to Guwahati, Dibrugarh, Jorhat or various towns to get some basic diagnostic tests done near to their place of residence. Strengthening rural healthcare services is essential to reduce the burden on medical colleges and keep the beds there available for the treatment of patients requiring specialised care and to prevent overburdening the diagnostic services. Timely completion of the construction of ten new district hospitals under the World Bank-funded Assam State Secondary Healthcare Initiative for Service Delivery Transformation will significantly improve secondary health care access in the state, but all districts having adequate and quality medical services will be dependent on doctors willing to render services in far-flung areas. The 15th Finance Commission mandated Panchyati Raj Institutions (PRI) and other local governments to strengthen rural healthcare infrastructure through utilisation of the grants recommended by the Finance Commission and earmarked for converting health sub-centres and primary healthcare centres into Health and Wellness Centres and for various other interventions like creating diagnostic infrastructure for primary healthcare. Building capacity of the PRIs in the state for judicious and transparent utilisation of the Finance Commission grants is vital for strengthening primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare in the public sector. Healthcare institutions in rural and difficult areas being equipped with all modern equipment, technology support, diagnostic services, and quality accommodation for doctors, nurses, and hospital staff is essential to build the required ecosystem for delivery of the best care and treatment by healthcare professionals. Special incentives for services rendered in remote and difficult areas can augment availability of specialists in rural areas. The state government has rightly focused on leveraging technology to take healthcare service provided in government hospitals to the next level to compete with the private hospitals. Faster dissemination of paperless medical reports for doctors and patients and performance of robotic telesurgery by a specialist on a patient admitted to a hospital far away have already become reality and are incorporated in most advanced private hospitals. Making these available in government hospitals only requires a vision and commitment, as availability of funds is not a major issue. Once government hospitals provide the same facilities, more patients, particularly from lower middle-class, economically backward households, will also have access to better medical services at an affordable cost; often, to access those services in private hospitals, they mortgage their landed assets or take loans. Rapid transformation in the government healthcare sector in the state has triggered new hopes among these patients to avail better healthcare at an affordable cost and with much ease. Sustaining the momentum is possible only when vision is clear and forward-looking. The visionary initiatives of Chief Minister Sarma to transform public healthcare in the state proved his critics wrong and unlocked a new window of endless opportunities.