DID at HFH shifted to Red Crescent Hospital

Rawalpindi:The Department of Infectious Diseases that was operating here at Holy Family Hospital in town is being shifted to Red Crescent Hospital near College Chowk along Saidpur Road because the HFH has to undergo maintenance and repair work along with revamping.

The administration at the HFH has started shifting beds and equipment of the DID to the Red Crescent Hospital on Tuesday and according to senior officials at the department, the shifting would be completed within a day or two. The infectious diseases’ department at the HFH has been operating a 70-bedded ward and 8-bedded high dependency unit to deal with patients coming to the hospital with different infections.

At present, as many as 58 dengue fever patients have been undergoing treatment at the DID in HFH who would be shifted to the Red Crescent Hospital, said Head of Department of Infectious Diseases Professor Dr. Muhammad Mujeeb Khan while talking to ‘The News’ on Tuesday.

He said the Red Crescent Hospital would only provide space to the DID that would bring the beds and all other equipment with it from the HFH. All the relevant staff of the DID including doctors, nurses, paramedics and officials in administrative cadre would serve at the Red Crescent Hospital to accommodate patients with infectious diseases, he said.

To a query, he said the department would operate at the Red Crescent Hospital till the seasonal close of dengue fever outbreak, at least it has been decided at the moment. The outpatients department of the DID would also operate at the RCH, he added.

He said the DID would also operate the radiology and pathology department at the Red Crescent Hospital while the pharmacy of the infectious diseases’ department is also being shifted to the new location. All the patients in need of dengue fever screening and management should directly visit the DID at the RCH as the whole department would operate at the new location till further directives, said Dr. Mujeeb.

It is important that the HFH has been in a dire need of repair and maintenance work particularly in need of civil works because there have been complaints of poor state of walls and leaky roofs in a number of sections of the hospital. Under a project by the caretaker setup in the Punjab province, the HFH is being upgraded through repair and maintenance work and for the purpose, its departments would be shifted to other teaching hospitals in town.