LAHORE: Chief Minister Usman Buzdar says three new trauma centres and the emergency blocks will be set up in Lahore.

“A 200-bed new emergency block will be established in the Services Hospital along with an improvement in medical and building facilities,” the CM said while chairing a meeting to review the progress on health schemes here on Wednesday.

He directed the officials concerned to submit the hospital’s emergency block and building structure plans within seven days along with the master plan of doctors and paramedics residences. There is a proposal to construct three separate residential towers for doctors and other staff as well.

Buzdar said another 300-bed trauma centre and the emergency block would be built over 56-kanal land in front of Jinnah Hospital. A 1,000-bed hospital would also be built at Ferozepur Road over 123 kanal with a separate block of 200 beds for thalassemia patients, he said.

Buzdar said the Punjab Agriculture Food and Drug Authority would be made functional at the earliest and funds would be provided on a priority basis for early completion of Nishtar-II Hospital, Multan, and Shaikh Zayed Hospital, Rahim Yar Khan, and the new OPD block of Parvez Elahi Institute of Cardiology, Multan, would facilitate the patients there.

The chief minister also directed to timely complete the Fatima Jinnah Institute of Dental Sciences, Jubilee Town, and termed universal health coverage programme a novel step.

Published in Dawn, September 9th, 2021