SKARDU, July 22: A plan to upgrade and modernize the Skardu district headquarters hospital would be launched soon. The hospital's medical superintendent Lt-Col Sajid Farooq said at the 'meet the press" programme at the press club that Rs40 million was likely to be spent on the scheme.

Under the programme, latest equipment would be installed to diagnose complicated cases and a modern children's ward would be constructed.

He said Health Minister Mohammed Naseer Khan during his visit to the hospital had announced that a CT scan unit would be installed there, which was likely to start functioning in a couple of months. He said Rs20 million would be spent on purchasing the unit.

He said there were 22 doctors and 186 paramedics in the hospital, which was insufficient. He said the hospital had 145 beds and its out-patients department was visited by 1,000 people daily.

He said there were no gynaecologists, orthopedists and skin specialists in the hospital. He said the hospital urgently needed two gynaecologists. Cardiology, gastroenteritis and kidney treatment facilities were also not available there and the patients were referred to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in Islamabad, he said.

He said patients were treated free of cost round the clock in the hospital.