LAHORE: Chief Minister Usman Buzdar on Monday laid the foundation stone of 600-bed new mother and child hospital on the premises of the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.
The 10-storey building will be completed in two years with an amount of Rs4 billion while Rs3 billion will be spent on the latest healthcare equipment.
Addressing the ceremony, the chief minister termed it a historic occasion saying Sir Ganga Ram Hospital was being expanded after a gap of 77 years.
He said the new hospital would be the most modern medical facility, having 13 operation theatres and special attention would be paid to medical research.
“We have gathered at a historical educational institution where Fatima Jinnah Medical University, attributed to the mother of the nation, is on one side while Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, being a high example of service to humanity, is on the other side,” he said.
He made it clear that the government had provided Rs277bn for the health sector in the current budget. Meanwhile, Rs45 billion were being spent on new healthcare projects in the province, he said.
The chief minister said mother and child hospitals were being established in Bahawalnagar, Sialkot, Mianwali, Attock, Rajanpur, Layyah and Muzaffargarh districts. The nursing colleges will also be established there.
Work had already been started on Nishtar Hospital-II project in Multan while the foundation stone of the institute of cardiology would be laid in Dera Ghazi Khan next month.
He said Shaikh Zayed Hospital-II project would be launched in Rahim Yar Khan from the next financial year. He announced establishing a new cardiac hospital in Lahore adding spadework for the project had already been started.
The government would also start work on 500-bed institute of blood diseases in Lahore from the next financial year as there was no such institution in the public sector so far, he said.
The chief minister lamented it was quite unfortunate that no government ever thought about setting up an institute of blood diseases.
“There is an institute to treat only 180 patients in Pakistan, but I am of the opinion that we should have an institution to treat 180,000 patients, he said.
Usman Buzdar said distribution of Sehat Insaf Cards had been completed in all districts of the province. As a result, 35 million deserving people were getting free treatment facilities.
“I regularly review progress on health sector projects and I congratulate the health minister and her team as they are doing a very good job,” the CM maintained. He said 32,000 health professionals, including 12,000 doctors, had been recruited on merit by this government.
He also announced linking Samanabad Hospital with Sir Ganga Ram Hospital on the request of Industries Minister Mian Aslam Iqbal. He announced that land would be provided for Fatima Jinnah Medical University campus and added that the provision of land in this regard at Knowledge Park would be examined.
“I regularly inspect hospitals during my visits to different districts and it is sanguine that doctors’ attendance has reached 95 per cent in BHUs,” he claimed.
The government had enhanced salaries of the doctor and their other problems would also be solved, he said.
He said medicines were available in hospitals in abundance and there was no corruption scandal against this government as PTI was fully engaged in public service for the last one-and-a-half years. In fact, it was the most transparent government in the history of the country, he said.
Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid said no past government ever gave attention to utilise this piece of land but Chief Minister Usman Buzdar spearheaded this project. Specialized Healthcare and Medical Education Secretary Nabeel Awan said the Punjab government was working day and night to improve the health sector by developing new hospitals and medical colleges across the province.
Published in Dawn, February 25th, 2020