LAHORE: The Punjab government has given three teaching hospitals of the provincial capital under the administrative control of the Fatima Jinnah Medical University (FJMU).

It has also appointed principal of FJMC Prof Fakhar Imam as first acting vice chancellor of the varsity, abolishing the 67-year-old college status of the institute.

The health department issued a notification after seeking approval from the Punjab governor (chancellor of the university) on Thursday.

Prof Imam will work as acting VC till regular appointment of the vice chancellor. According to the amendment made in the FJMU Bill 2015, the new regular vice chancellor of the FJMU would be appointed within a period of six months of the constitution of the varsity.

The FJMC, one of the premier medical institutions of the country, has been upgraded to the status of an independent, degree-awarding university by the Punjab governor after the Punjab Assembly approved the FJMU Bill 2015 on May 25 last. The hospitals attached to the varsity are Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Government Teaching Hospital of Shahdara and Government Mozang Teaching Hospital. Earlier, these public hospitals were under the administrative control of the Board of Management of the FJMC.

The notification created confusion about the status of these hospitals as it did not mention them as constituent health facilities. Earlier, the FJMU Bill 2015 which was passed by the Punjab Assembly had categorically declared that “the attached hospitals shall be the constituent health facilities of the varsity.”

The notification says, “these hospitals shall function as teaching hospitals for the Fatima Jinnah Medical University Lahore. The FJMU may arrange funding and workforce for improvement of physical infrastructure to bring the hospitals on a par with a teaching hospital.”

It further declares that the Punjab government would continue to provide recurrent grant to the hospitals through the FJMU Lahore, according to the criteria for a teaching hospital. “In the wake of the new arrangement, the administrative and financial matters of the teaching hospitals shall be manned by the syndicate of the FJMU.”

The Act of the varsity stated that “the syndicate shall be headed by the adviser to chief minister on health... The senior professors of the FJMU shall be called chairmen of their respective departments.”

Published in Dawn, July 17th, 2015

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