Work on mother & child hospital being activated

Rawalpindi: The work on the planned mother and child hospital (MCH) at the space of TB Hospital at Asghar Mall Road, near Eidgah, is needed to be initiated to overcome problem of overcrowding in paediatrics and gynaecology wards of the allied hospitals including Holy Family Hospital (HFH) in town while the provincial health minister would work on approval of PC-1 prepared for establishment of additional wards at HFH.

It was decided in a meeting of Federal Minister for National Health Services Aamer Mehmood Kiani and the Punjab Health Minister Dr. Yasmin Rashid with the Vice Chancellor of Rawalpindi Medical University Professor Mohammad Umar during Road Show event of Punjab Health Foundation held here on Monday.

It has also been discussed that the outpatients department of Institute of Urology and Transplant should be made operational at the earliest and dialysis machines should be installed to accommodate patients as soon as possible while functioning of indoor patients department may take time.

Talking to ‘The News’, Professor Umar said the ministers have been informed that for allocation of funding for renovation works and readjustment of wards at HFH, need approval of PC-1 on which the provincial minister assured that she would for it on urgent basis.

He said that in the meeting, it was discussed that the issue of overcrowding of maternity and child patients can be overcome on permanent basis by establishing new healthcare facilities like Mother and Child Hospital at Asghar Mall Road which according to plan, would be a 450-bedded hospital for mother and child care.

I requested the federal and the provincial ministers to help initiating work for establishment of MNC at Bagh Sardaran which is a project of the federal government, he said. The federal minister said he would do all out efforts to activate plan of MNC while the provincial minister ensured her full support in completion of planned renovation work at the HFH.

It is important that prime minister visited HFH on January 7 after which medical superintendent and a deputy medical superintendent of hospital were transferred mainly because the PM expressed great dissatisfaction over keeping two to three women patients on a single bed at gynaecology ward of the hospital.

Terming the meeting with ministers a follow up to the PM’s visit, Dr. Umar said he informed the ministers of the work being done to accommodate extraordinary burden of patients at gynae and paeds wards of the HFH.