SUKKUR, Jan 29: The Korean government plans to establish a 250-bed hospital in Sukkur which will include a 100-bed children's ward equipped with state-of-the-art facilities, according to EDO (heath) Dr. Tariq Abbas Dareshani.

He told this correspondent on Saturday that the planned hospital would be handed over to Sindh government after construction and would provide medical care to patients from different parts of upper Sindh, including Sukkur, Ghotki, Khairpur, Shikarpur, Jacobabad, Kashmore and adjoining areas.

A nine-member team of the Korea Health Industry Department Institute (KHIDI) led by its Director Lee Shinho, which is currently in Pakistan, visited Sukkur on Friday.

The team visited the Ghulam Mohammad Mahar Medical College, Civil Hospital, the office of the EDO (health), and the proposed site for the hospital near the city bypass, said the EDO.

He said that he, Civil Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr. Zulfiqar Ali Shaikh, GMMMC Principal Ghulam Qadir Kaheri and child specialist Dr. Majeed Memon informed the delegation that the under-construction building of the college hospital would be completed within two years.

The delegation expressed reservations over the delay in completion of the building but the college principal assured them that construction work would be started in a few weeks. The EDO suggested to the delegation to construct the hospital adjacent to the college to maximise benefit for patients as well as medical students.

The principal said that a renowned Japanese firm had prepared a feasibility report for a children's hospital in Sukkur in 2009 but it did not start work due to unknown reasons. Their feasibility had been handed over to the delegation, he said.