SOUTH WAZIRISTAN: District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital Wana is reeling under severe financial crisis that has crippled essential medical services, left staff unpaid for months and pushed the region’s fragile healthcare system to the brink of collapse.

Despite possessing a modern building and adequate infrastructure, the DHQ hospital, the only major public health facility serving more than 600,000 residents of South Waziristan Lower, has been unable to function properly due to the non-release of operational funds for almost a year. The prolonged delay has paralyzed key departments, with doctors and medical staff warning that the situation is fast becoming unsustainable.

DHQ Hospital Wana MS Jan Muhammad told Dawn, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government handed over the management of DHQ Hospital Wana to the Medical Emergency Resilience Foundation (MERF) in 2022 under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement.

The model was designed to improve service delivery and efficiency, but officials and staff claim it has instead become a source of administrative confusion and financial stagnation.

“The health foundation and finance department have yet to release the hospital’s Rs330 million in pending funds, bringing most of the development and maintenance work to a standstill,” said the MS, while speaking to Dawn.

He said that salaries for over 200 staff members have been withheld for ten consecutive months, forcing employees into financial distress. The government’s failure to release funds has crippled the entire hospital system,” Mr Jan Muhammad said.

A senior doctor, requesting anonymity, said the situation had reached a “breaking point.” “Doctors have not received salaries for months. Without financial support, even basic healthcare services are becoming impossible to sustain. If the situation continues, several key departments may be forced to shut down,” he warned.

The delay in release of funds has had serious repercussions. Departments such as dialysis, laboratory, X-ray, operation theatre, and emergency are now operating under extreme pressure. Several vital medical machines have broken down and remain unrepaired due to the lack of maintenance funds.

A dialysis patient, speaking to Dawn, said, “We come from remote areas for treatment. If this hospital stops operating, we will have to travel to Dera Ismail Khan or Tank, which most of us cannot afford. The government must act before it’s too late.”

Local elders and political representatives have also voiced deep concern, appealing to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to release the hospital’s funds without further delay as the already fragile health system cannot afford another setback.

Community leaders have criticised the public-private partnership model, describing it as poorly executed and lacking proper oversight. They demanded that the provincial government either restructure the existing model or resume direct administrative control of DHQ Hospital Wana for continuity of services.

Published in Dawn, October 24th, 2025