LAHORE: After an inordinate delay, the Punjab government has finally begun the process for appointment of full-time heads of four public sector cardiac care institutes in the province.

In this connection, a high-powered panel conducted interviews of 12 senior cardiac consultants to fill the chief executive officer (CEO) slots at the Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC) Lahore, Faisalabad Institute of Cardiology (FIC), Wazirabad Institute of Cardiology (WIC) and Chaudhry Parvez Elahi Institute of Cardiology (CPEIC), Multan.

Headed by Punjab health minister Prof Dr Yasmin Rashid, the panel included University of Health Sciences Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Javed Akram, Mayo Hospital Lahore Chairman Board of Governors Prof Mahmood Shaukat and former vice chancellor of the Fatima Jinnah Medical University, Prof Ali Raza Gardezi.

An official privy to the development told Dawn that in the absence of regular heads, these public sector institutes were falling a victim to mismanagement as they were being mostly run by junior and inexperienced doctors, compromising the cardiac healthcare standards and delivery.

12 heart specialists interviewed by panel headed by Punjab health minister

He said because of having no full-time head, a mega scam of use of expired stents surfaced at the PIC, Lahore, putting lives of hundreds of cardiac patients at risk. Later, an inquiry conducted into the scam by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) recommended action against 17 consultants and officials of the PIC, including its former chief. The probe revealed that some surgeons at the PIC benefited from the “bogus angioplasties and implantation of cardiac stents [in various cases] where patients did not [actually] pass through the angioplasty procedure.”

The official added that action under PEEDA Act was also proposed against the officials held guilty in the scam.

He said the PIC was being run on day-to-day basis since the retirement of its last head Prof Saqib Shafi on Sept 23, 2021. Similarly, he said, the FIC in Faisalabad was without a full-time and regular CEO for the last three years or so after the transfer of Prof Anjum Jalal who was made chief of the Rawalpindi Institute of Cardiology.

A retired cardiac surgeon, Prof Abdul Waheed, was heading the WIC at Wazirabad for the last three years or so on contract basis, the official said, adding that his contract period was expiring soon.

About the CPEIC, Multan, he said, the Nishtar Medical University vice chancellor Prof Dr Rana Altaf was running this state-run cardiac institute for the last six months or so.To rectify the situation, he said, the panel interviewed six candidates for the CEO slot at the PIC, including Prof Zubair Akram, Prof Ahmad Nauman, Prof Bilal Muhauddin, Prof Muazzam Ali Naqvi, Prof Mazhar Ali and Prof Asif Rahman.

The interviews of three candidates -- Prof Bilal Ahsan Qureshi, Prof Tariq Abbas and Prof Mohammad Mujtaba -- were held for the top slot at the CPEIC, Multan, while Prof Zufliqar, Prof Mazhar Ali and Prof Hamid Saeed appeared for the FIC CEO slot.

The official said the panel also interviewed two candidates -- Prof Zulfiqar Ahmad and Prof Abdul Sattar -- for the CEO slot at the WIC.

He said the panel would recommend the names of shortlisted candidates to Chief Minister Usman Buzdar for final consideration.

Published in Dawn, March 5th, 2022