LAHORE:Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre (SKMCH&RC) has completed 25 years of serving humanity and on this occasion the hospital management feels immensely grateful for the staunch backing of supporters from Pakistan as well as from across the globe for their contributions to the cause.
“We consider all our supporters a part of this accomplishment and they deserve to be congratulated on this achievement.” These views were expressed by Dr Faisal Sultan, CEO, SKMCH&RC at a press conference held on the premises of the hospital here. “Over the past 25 years, our hospitals in Lahore and Peshawar have recorded over two million outpatient visits, and we have provided over 1.6 million therapeutic sessions of chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery,” he added.
Describing preferences and priorities of the hospital during this time, Dr Faisal said, “Since its inception, the hospital has never once compromised on the quality of care to the patients. We continued to invest in the latest equipment and technology to stay at the forefront of cancer diagnosis and treatment in the region. Despite the fact that we are a charitable institution, it is noteworthy that we have continued to provide world-class treatment to all our patients, 75 percent of whom received financially-supported treatment.”
“Shaukat Khanum Hospital is proud to be the leading institution in the field of cancer treatment,” Dr Faisal stated while giving details of some of the key departments of the hospital. He said, “As part of our ongoing commitment to remain at the cutting edge of innovation and technology, we now have the largest and most modern radiation oncology department in the country, with four linear accelerators, all with IMRT, IGRT, and VMAT capability. We are currently in the final stages of installation of a 5th radiation machine which has stereotactic radiation capability, and is the most advanced medical linear accelerator currently available, and the first of its kind to be installed in Pakistan. Likewise, the radiation oncology department at SKMCH&RC, Peshawar, is also now fully functional, with two state-of-the-art linear accelerators installed.”
Dr Faisal gave an overview of the hospital’s key moments from the past to the media, as he described some recent achievements as well, such as accreditation of SKMCH&RC, Lahore and Peshawar by Joint Commission International (JCI), after demonstrating continuous compliance with JCI’s internationally recognised standards. Talking about the current and upcoming expansion projects, he informed that phase-III of the SKMCH&RC, Peshawar will be completed in year 2020 after which surgical services will be started at the facility. Besides, construction of a Clinical Tower will also be started in SKMCH&RC, Lahore in coming year, and it would be the largest expansion project ever since the hospital’s inception, which will double the capacity of the existing facility.
Moreover, commencement of work on the third, and biggest so far, SKMCH&RC in Karachi is also planned in 2020.
Answering to a question about future plans of the institute, Dr Faisal said, “as we are celebrating 25 years of serving humanity, we are also determined to achieve the goal for the next 25 years that is to provide state-of-the-art diagnosis and treatment facilities to almost all cancer patients in the country at Shaukat Khanum Cancer Care facility, no matter what part of country they belong to.
Concluding the talk, the CEO of Pakistan’s first and so far the largest cancer hospital told that our budget for the year 2020 is Rs17 billion and we expect around half of this to be met by generous donations from our supporters. He urged everyone to come forward and pledge their support in the fight against cancer, during the next 25 years and beyond.