PESHAWAR, July 20: A community-based healthcare unit that started functioning two months ago has attracted people living in the rural areas of three union councils in Karak after failure of the government hospitals and rural healthcare centres to cater to their needs.

The community hospital’s location on the main Indus Highway does not deter people from nearby and relatively far villages to come here while its staff has created a lot of goodwill among them.

Presently, the healthcare centre offers facilities like OPD service, immunization programmes for women and children (although it is short on vaccines), maternal and reproductive healthcare, laboratory services for basic clinical investigations, a medicine store besides taking care of people injured in accidents on the Indus Highway.

The model hospital lacks essential equipment like X-ray, ECG and ultrasound machines.

A 14-member team, comprising only one doctor and support staff, is supported by a single ambulance vehicle. Naveed Iqbal, doctor who is also the facility’s administrator, attends the facility round-the-clock but does not complain about being overworked. “We are short of doctors, especially a woman doctor, who can look after the women patients,” said Dr Naveed.

The hospital, which caters to a population of over 64,000 in the three union councils, also supplements the DHQ hospital as some laboratory tests are referred to it and its ambulance service is hired in emergencies.

The cost of running the community preventive healthcare unit project is shared by the beneficiary communities of three union councils of Karak, the Trust for Voluntary Organizations (TVO) and the executing agency, the Community Uplift Programme.

The project supplies, including the building, procurement of medical equipment, furniture, fixtures, laboratory items and ambulance, cost Rs6.5 million, of which Rs 3.5 million were granted by the TVO and Rs2 million were provided by the CUP. The share of the beneficiary communities of the three union councils of Jandri, Mithakhel and Esak Chontra is Rs1 million.

When the hospital started functioning on May 16, a lot of mistrust prevailed among the beneficiary communities. “Initially, we faced a lot of adverse propaganda that the hospital was constructed by an NGO to implement its secret agenda, but we proved that the hospital belonged to the communities and that it was a public property,” said Dr Naveed, while briefing this reporter on the hospital project.

“The people often feel hesitant to take their patients to the nearby government healthcare units, which are poorly-equipped and equally poorly-managed. They are not even ready to take their patients to the main District Headquarters hospital, where, they are sure, they would face difficulties in getting hold of a doctor. Even if they find one, they feel they are in for some harsh treatment by the government hospital staff,” said many of the people contacted by this correspondent, adding that the community hospital had revolutionized healthcare system in the district.

“We need more ambulances for emergency evacuation of victims of accidents on the main Indus Highway. We also need more staff including doctors and females nurses,” Dr Naveed said.