September 25, 2007	Tuesday	Ramazan 12, 1428

VEHARI, Sept 24: The newly-constructed children’s complex at the DHQ Hospital awaits opening for the last five months because electricity has not yet been supplied to this facility.

The 50-bed complex having intensive care unit, outdoor and indoor emergency and incubator facilities has been completed at the cost of Rs30 million with the collaboration of an NGO, Plan Pakistan, and is the first of its kind in southern Punjab.

NGO’s spokesman Muhammad Aslam said they provided all the equipment and infrastructure, including furniture, beds and chairs.

Free food to deserving patients and their families would also be provided at the complex.

Medical Superintendent (MS) Dr Nasir Dilshad told Dawn here on Monday that the complex housed ancillary facilities like playroom, sitting rooms and attendants’ sleeping room.

The MS said a separate laboratory had been set up to cater to the complex’s need where facilities to conduct all types of tests including blood test, x-ray, ultrasound and diagnostic tests for diseases like asthma would be available.

He said separate wards for the children suffering from diseases like diarrhoea, gastrointestinitis, asthma, pneumonia and thalassemia and bone injuries had been constructed.

The MS said that a specialist doctor, Dr Khalid, had been deputed in charge of the complex with three male and two women doctors and 10 nurses, six ward boys, four cleaners and a peon as staffers.

Dr Dilshad said another doctor and 10 more nurses were required to run the facility efficiently and the district government had assured him that the required staff would be provided soon.

The MS said the opening of the complex was being delayed because Multan Electric Power Company’s Vehari Circle had not yet provided electricity to this newly-built facility.

He said that Mepco’s Vehari executive engineer had assured him that a new transformer to supply electricity to the complex would be installed soon.

However, he said, the executive engineer did not give any date by which the transformer would be installed. Dr Dilshad said the complex would start functioning only after electricity would have been provided to it.

Citizens have demanded immediate opening of this facility, saying they were already suffering a lot while taking their child patients to Multan or Lahore.