KP govt removes BoG chiefs of LRH, Ayub Teaching Hospital

PESHAWAR: The caretaker government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Tuesday has removed certain members of the Boards of Governors (BoGs) of some tertiary care hospitals in the province.

The caretaker government had previously dissolved some of the boards but the Peshawar High Court restored them after the board members challenged their removal.

“In exercise of powers conferred under Sub- Section 3 of Section-5 of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Medical Teaching Institution Reforms. Act 2015 (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Act No. IV of 2015) (amended from time to time), the Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is pleased to remove Dr. Nausherwan Burki as Chairperson/Member of Board of Governors of Medical Teaching Institution, Lady Reading Hospital Peshawar, on account of reasons mentioned Sub-Section-9 of Section-5 in the Act ibid along with other allied reasons i.e. political affiliation and recommendation by defective/defunct Search and Nomination Council resulting in his illegal appointment, with immediate effect in the best public interest,” the government stated in the notification.

The government has replaced Dr Burki with Dr Zubair Khan, a retired dermatologist in LRH, as chairperson BoG LRH.

Dr Nausherwan Burki, cousin of chairman PTI Imran Khan, was the architect of PTI’s much-publicised health reforms.

Known to be a strict professional who faced criticism of his working style, there is much to his credit for bringing massive resources to the health institutions and freeing them from the clutches of bureaucracy.

Similarly, the government removed two BoG members in LRH, including Zarak Khan Khattak and Dr Shahnaz Nawaz “on account of reasons mentioned in Sub-Section-9 of Section-5 in the Act ibid along with other allied reasons i.e. political affiliation and recommendation by defective/defunct Search and Nomination Council resulting in his illegal appointment, with immediate effect in the best public interest”. Similar reasons have been cited for removal of other BoG members.

They were replaced by Dr Musa Kaleem, a retired paediatrician in LRH, and Mohammad Faheem Siddiqui.

Abbottabad was another important station where Dr Mohammad Asim Yousuf was chairman of the hospital BoG. He was allegedly close to Imran Khan and Dr Burki, as he is an employee of Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital Lahore.

“The government removed Dr Asim Yousuf as chairperson/Member of Board of Governors of Medical Teaching Institution, Ayub Teaching Hospital/Ayub Medical College Abbottabad on account of reasons mentioned in Sub-Section-9 of Section-5 in the Act ibid along with other allied reasons i.e. political affiliation, negligence in performing his responsibilities being Chairperson of the Board of Governors and recommendation by defective/defunct Search and Nomination Council resulting in his illegal appointment, with immediate effect in the best public interest,” it is explained in the notification.

A former bureaucrat and health secretary Mushtaq Jadoon has replaced Dr Asim Yousaf.

The government has also removed Maj (R) Dr Sadiqur Rahman as member BoG Ayub Teaching Hospital/Ayub Medical College Abbottabad.

Prof Aftab Rabbani and Ayaz Khan have been notified as members of the BoG of Ayub Teaching Hospital/Ayub Medical College Abbottabad, for a period of three years.

Dr Rabani is a retired physician from the same institution he served as its first medical director when the MTI Law was passed by the provincial assembly. He had served very well and earned appreciation for his honest and excellent work but then unceremoniously removed. He had lost his young son Captain Akash Rabbani in a terrorist act in North Waziristan tribal district in 2014.

The government has removed Mohammad Waleed Akhtar and Adnan Naveed Babar as BoG members of Qazi Hussain Ahmad Medical Complex Nowshera. Dr Habibur Rahman has been appointed as BoG member of Qazi Hussain Ahmad Medical Complex for a period of three years. Abdur Rauf, has been appointed as BoG member of Khalifa Gul Nawaz Teaching Hospital Bannu, for a period of three years.