CM, US ambassador inaugurate 120-bed maternity ward at JPMC

Karachi 

American Ambassador David Hale and Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah inaugurated a new Rs628 million maternity ward funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre.

The 120-bed maternity ward replaces an older one with only 80 beds. USAID previously funded the construction of a Rs356 million obstetrics/gynecology ward at the hospital, which was inaugurated in December 2012.

“America and Pakistan have worked together for many years to solve big challenges such as improving access to high quality health care.  These buildings are symbols of our abiding partnership,” Ambassador Hale said. 

Sindh Health Minister Dr Jam Mehtab Dahar, Consul General Brian Heath and USAID Mission Director John Groarke and Provincial Director Craig Buck also attended the inauguration. 

During the ceremony, the hospital administration also signed a memorandum of understanding with Tabba Foundation to manage the new ward.

America and Pakistan have a long history of working together to improve health care.  USAID, Jinnah Hospital and Indiana University launched the Basic Medical Services Institute in 1959, which became the first institute to provide postgraduate medical education in Pakistan.

In January this year, Ambassador Hale and Chief Minister Shah inaugurated the Jacobabad Institute of Medical Sciences, also funded by USAID, and that institute is now serving hundreds of patients daily.

Since the financial year 2012, more than five million women and children have received health care services at a site supported by the US government.