KARACHI, April 24: The Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre hopes to have a new emergency operation theatre by September or October, said speakers at a fund-raising event that was held on the hospital’s premises on Thursday morning.

Several philanthropists pledged donations during the event. And some donors actually handed over cheques to the hospital administration.

The addition of the emergency operation theatre, being built on top of the existing accident and emergency department, will allow the hospital to streamline the flow of patients needing emergency surgical operations.

Currently a patient who is brought to the accident and emergency department and who, for some reasons, needs to be operated upon must be shifted to another building which houses the operation theatres. In the process, considerable time is lost which could be critical for patients in serious condition.

The speakers — Prof Hasan Aziz, Mrs Zahra Sayeed, Prof Masood Sheikh, Prof Kazi Abdul Shakoor and Dr Seemin Jamali — described in detail the objectives of the project and also urged the philanthropists to donate generously for the project.

The under-construction structure is in the final stages of completion, said the speakers. However, the two operation theatres remained to be equipped for which Rs9 million are needed to be raised. The structure is being built at a cost of Rs5 million.

The equipment proposed to be installed in the two operation theatres are: microprocessors electro surgical generators; operation tables; total medical pipeline system; pulse oximeter; ECG monitors; autoclaves; defibrillators; ventilators; neurosurgery instruments; general surgery instruments; orthopaedic instruments; and, miscellaneous items.

The total cost of the project, having an elevator system, will be Rs16.7 million, said the speakers. Upon completion the project, conceived by a group of concerned citizens, will be handed over to an NGO which will oversee its operations.

For this purpose a new registered NGO, dedicated to the cause of accident and emergency cases, is being set up. All the assets will be transferred to this NGO — called the Accident and Emergency Foundation.

The speakers said a separate bank account had been opened for the project. The project’s accounts books will be audited periodically by well-known accountants.

So far about Rs1.7 million had been spent on construction work, said the speakers. Donors had already deposited Rs5.8 million for the project and Rs1.6 million had been pledged prior to Thursday’s event.