PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Thursday ordered the completion of the ‘Revamping of Secondary Care District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospitals’ project, by the end of the current fiscal year, warning that any further delay will not be tolerated.

He instructed all relevant departments to accelerate the pace of work and ensure the project’s timely completion.

The chief minister was chairing a meeting held at the Chief Minister’s House for reviewing progress on the revamping of DHQ hospitals across the province.

A statement issued from the chief minister’s secretariat read that the chief minister was briefed in detail about the project and that the meeting comprehensively reviewed the progress achieved to date, the key implementation challenges, and the way forward.

Warns further delay will not be tolerated

The chief minister directed that the hospitals that required relatively less development work, should be prioritised for early completion and operationalisation to ensure that the public gains timely access to modern and quality healthcare services.

He instructed authorities to promptly identify and resolve all bottlenecks impeding implementation, reiterating that avoidable delays would not be acceptable under any circumstances.

The chief minister stated that the project’s progress would be reviewed again in three months and underscored that clear and substantial headway must be achieved before the next review.

He observed that alongside the rehabilitation and upgradation of DHQ hospitals, rural health centres and basic health units, establishment of the proposed health city was equally indispensable and remained one of the provincial government’s foremost priorities.

Mr Afridi directed authorities to further expedite progress on the health city initiative so that it could move into the implementation phase at the earliest.

The chief minister stated that his government was not only investing substantial resources in the rehabilitation and modernisation of existing hospitals and healthcare facilities but was also advancing new strategic initiatives such as the health city project to address the province’s growing healthcare needs and ensure the provision of modern, high-quality, and sustainable health services for the people.

He directed the authorities to take all necessary measures for the early completion of the Khyber Institute of Child Health and other ongoing health sector projects, assuring them of the provincial government’s full support for achieving those objectives.

Earlier, officials informed the meeting that four separate PC-I schemes, with a cumulative approved cost of Rs33.085 billion, had been approved for the revamping of 32 secondary care hospitals at DHQ hospitals across the province.

The meeting was further informed that the procurement of modern medical equipment worth Rs2.55 billion had been completed and the equipment had already been delivered to the respective hospitals.

In addition, the infrastructure designs for the hospitals had been approved, while civil works were expected to commence shortly.

Published in Dawn, July 10th, 2026