RAWALPINDI: Punjab Minister for Health Khawaja Salman Rafique on Friday said three state-of-the-art centres of excellence will be established in different districts under the Punjab Nursing and Health Workforce Reform Programme.
“Mother and Child Hospital (near Asghar Mall) will be completed by next year and it will minimise burden on the three existing government hospitals in Rawalpindi,” he said.
The minister stated this during a visit to Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute and the under-construction Mother and Child Hospital Asghar Mall.
PML-N MNA Tahira Aurangzeb, Secretary Specialised Healthcare and Medical Education Department Azmat Mahmood, Vice Chancellor Rawalpindi Medical University Professor Dr Mohammad Umar and Commissioner Abdul Aamer Khattak were also present.
The minister was briefed about the performance of the institution, health facilities and administrative matters.
The minister said that patients suffering from kidney and liver problems will be provided modern health facilities at the PKLI. Thousands of people are being provided free treatment under the special initiative.
The MNA on the occasion said quality dialysis facilities were being provided to kidney and liver patients at the local level.
The secretary health said that people from KP and northern areas come to the hospital for treatment.
He minister also visited Children’s Hospital Rawalpindi and got a briefing about the development work done so far. He directed the concerned authorities to complete the ongoing development work in the hospital on time. He said that the Children’s Hospital will become fully functional next year.
“No compromise will be made on the quality and speed of the ongoing development work in the hospital,” he said.
It may be mentioned here that the Mother and Child Hospital project worth Rs2.5 billion was launched in 2005 during the tenure of then military ruler Pervez Musharraf.
The then prime minister Shaukat Aziz laid the foundation on April 8, 2005. The project was the brainchild of former interior minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed. Then, the 400-bed hospital was to be constructed equipped with modern facilities to facilitate the patients of the city and cantonment areas. A nursing school was also to be established at the hospital.
However, work on the project was halted soon after the establishment of PML-N government in Punjab in 2008. During the two tenures of PML-N in the province, the work did not start. Before the 2018 elections, the then chief justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar visited the site on July 1 and directed the authorities concerned to complete the construction of the hospital within a year.
The construction work started again soon after the PTI government came to power in the centre and Punjab. But, the project remained incomplete even though Sheikh Rashid remained close to the PTI and the then prime minister Imran Khan.
Published in Dawn, June 6th, 2026
