GUJRAT: The district government has selected 60 kanals in Vence village on GT Road for a 250-bed district headquarters (DHQ) hospital which will cost Rs1.50 billion.

Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif had approved the establishment of a new DHQ hospital in Gujrat after the Aziz Bhatti Shaheed (ABS) hospital was made a teaching hospital of the Nawaz Sharif Medical College.

Earlier, a district government’s proposal to build the DHQ hospital at the Nawaz Sharif park near Ramtalai Chowk was opposed by PML-N lawmakers as well as the management of the Gujrat Tehsil Municipal Administration that actually owns the park.

Official sources told Dawn that elected representatives called the new location suitable as it is easy to approach from across the district.

However, some health department officials said that the government could not ensure basic facilities at the ABS hospital due to the shortage of funds and poor administration and a plan to establish a new public hospital in the district was destined to fail.

In another development, the provincial government has appointed Dr Tahir Abbas Gondal as the acting medical superintendent of the ABS teaching hospital after the suspension of Dr Mian Abdul Wajid for his alleged poor performance three weeks ago.

Dr Gondal has served as the medical superintendent of the ABS hospital eight years ago.

The successive district governments of Gujrat during the last seven years made several attempts to get Mr Gondal posted as the head of the hospital due to his good managerial skills but failed due to resistance by a PML-N lawmaker.

This time, strong recommendations by Gujrat District Coordination Officer Liaqat Ali Chatha worked and Dr Gondal was posted acting head of the hospital.

Sources say he is likely to get permanent posting as the medical superintendent following routine proceedings of an official search committee which is a mandatory requirement for such a posting as two other names were also recommended for the post.

Official sources said that besides the shortage of funds, the strong pressure groups of young and senior doctors had been a major hurdle in the better service delivery as well as smooth functioning of the hospital.

Published in Dawn, August 1st, 2015

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