ISLAMABAD: After a gap of 37 years, two healthcare centres will be established in the federal capital as Prime Minister Imran Khan laid the foundation stone of a 200-bed Emergency and Trauma Centre at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) and a 300-bed hospital in G-11 on Monday.

Both buildings will be built by Chinese firms. The emergency centre will be completed in two years while the hospital will be constructed in 30 months.

Speaking to participants of the ground-breaking ceremony, Prime Minister Imran Khan said soon after taking charge of the government, he visited the Pims emergency centre.

“There are a number of departments that have been performing well but the emergency centre was in a very bad shape. Now a new emergency centre is being built and the design has been prepared by the same company that designed Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital. Overseas Pakistanis have paid for the design of the emergency centre,” PM Khan said.

PM lays foundation stone of trauma centre in Pims, hospital in G-11

“We want the emergency centre to have a specialised building for emergency patients. The other hospital, which will be called Jinnah Hospital in G-11, is being constructed after a long time. People should know that since 2010, the population of Islamabad has doubled,” he said, adding that the building’s architectural drawings are being prepared from the United States.

Speaking about the health card, Mr Khan said it was the biggest achievement of the government.

“Even in advanced countries, people have to pay premium for the card but we have provided the facility free-of-cost. Here, if a family member gets sick, the whole family goes below poverty line,” the prime minister said, adding that a month ago, Doctors Hospital performed a heart surgery of a labourer through health card.

He said a uniform education system was being enforced across the country so that the class system would be discouraged.

Talking about the hospital’s management, PM Khan suggested that the hospital’s affairs must be run in a transparent manner, the way it was done in private hospitals.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health Dr Faisal Sultan said the first hospital was built in Islamabad in 1966 and the last one was constructed in 1985 when Pims was established.

“We have enormous pressure of patients on the health system of the city. The emergency gets the patient first and plays a major role in creating an impression of the hospital. Emergency will be an unprecedented centre. Moreover, the hospital in G-11 will also come as a relief for patients,” he said.

Talking to Dawn, Pims Director Dr Khalid Masood said the emergency centre would be constructed in two years while the hospital in G-11 would be constructed in 30 months.

The emergency centre building will have three floors and a parking plaza having a capacity for 400 vehicles. While sharing details about the Emergency and Trauma Centre, Dr Masood said the centre and parking plaza would be constructed on 6.5 acres.

“There will be four operating rooms or surgery centres, acute care centre, isolation rooms, pharmacy, Central Sterile Supply Department (CSSD), laundry, CT scan facility, waiting hall and environmental services,” Dr Masood said.

Published in Dawn, March 22nd, 2022