MUZAFFARABAD: Neglected for years for one or the other reason, Abbas Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS), one of the two major healthcare facilities in the capital of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), is struggling to improve its image and come up to the expectations of the people, its new boss said on Sunday.

Speaking to a group of journalists, Dr Saleem Abbasi, a practicing cardiologist, regretted that while the hospital was subject to constant criticism for its “deficient” services and standard, nobody from the government, citizens or the media had ever tried to look into the reasons behind the alleged shortcomings.

“Honestly speaking, if there was no ownership on part of the government, our administrations also failed to properly take up their case with the government,” he added.

Dr Abbasi was appointed as the executive director (ED) AIMS last month in a move that is allegedly being resisted by the administrative officers of AJK health department.

New ED says he has set up a hospital improvement fund to cater to some financial needs without looking towards govt

The AIMS was established in Ambore, the gateway to the AJK capital, in 1992 initially as a 100-bed hospital with a view to reduce workload on the CMH located in the heart of the city, and gradually turn into a research centre.

However, corruption and mismanagement became its lot from the early days, owing to which it could not take off the way it was supposed to.

After the October 2005 earthquake brought services in the CMH to a grinding halt, doctors and paramedics posted there were transferred to AIMS to provide secondary and tertiary healthcare services to the entire city and the peripheral areas.

Dr Bashir Kanth, a full-time clinician, was appointed ED, and under his administration a newly-built 200-bed block was opened for the patients to cope with the emergency situation.

The CMH staff was repatriated after it started functioning at another site under an interim arrangement. Later, a grandiose building was constructed at the original site by the UAE government.

Back in AIMS, the government had pledged to provide equipment and the additional staff for the smooth functioning of the 200-bed ward but the commitment could not see the light of the day, Dr Abbasi said, lamenting that the 260-member staff for the 100-bed facility remained unchanged for the 300 beds.

Initially, the government had acquired 100 kanals of land for the hospital but another 200 kanals were bought after 2006, of which 141 kanals have lately been earmarked for the medical college buildings.

After the earthquake, the German government through its development bank, KfW, offered a grant of 19.8 million Euros for the reconstruction of AIMS and some other health facilities in AJK. Apart from the physical infrastructure, the required medical equipment was also pledged.

However, while the physical infrastructure was completed after a considerable delay, the commitment to provide equipment was yet to be fulfilled. The hospital administration was compelled to move into new buildings in the wake of some recent powerful temblors.

Dr Abbasi said after taking over he had raised a hospital improvement fund to cater to some of the needs without looking towards the government.

He admitted that punctuality had remained a big problem in AIMS but doctors and paramedics had given him their word to observe timings.

Similarly, the civic bodies and some other government departments had also pledged to contribute in the uplift of the hospital, some of whose boundaries are still without fence and thus open to stray animals.

Dr Abbasi said a ‘hospital improvement committee’ had also been constituted to ensure implementation of measures for the betterment of services.

On Sunday, reporters saw the municipal corporation bucket loaders and dumpers removing debris and garbage from different corners with hospital’s own sanitary staff in fluorescent jackets, a rare sight in the past.

He disclosed that AIMS would soon launch research work in an organised manner to fulfil its primary objective.

“We also want to open some new departments but funding is a big hurdle. I hope the government will meet these needs on a priority basis.”

Interestingly, the AJK health minister, Sardar Qamaruz Zaman, has turned a hostel-cum-guesthouse on the hospital premises into his residence for the last five years, but has rarely bothered to improve the image and services of the facility.

Published in Dawn, May 9th, 2016