Cath Lab at Khyber Teaching Hospital inaugurated

By Bureau report
March 14, 2025
This screengrab taken on March 13, 2025, shows a view of the Cath Lab at the Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH). — Facebook@HealthKPGovt
This screengrab taken on March 13, 2025, shows a view of the Cath Lab at the Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH). — Facebook@HealthKPGovt

PESHAWAR: Advisor to the Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Health Ehtesham Ali on Thursday finally inaugurated Cath Lab at the Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH).

The Cath Lab in KTH was installed in 2023 during the previous Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government, headed by Mahmood Khan with a huge cost but it remained non-functional, due to a host of reasons.

The hospital administration had previously argued that it required additional funds for its operations and purchasing multiple items including stents and the hospital didn’t have enough resources. Also, another major reason that the Cath lab couldn’t be made functional was the lack of interventional cardiologist in the hospital.

There was only a single interventional cardiologist in KTH, and the leg-pulling whether the department should be divided into two sections- general cardiology and interventional cardiology- so that the funds spent from public exchequer could be utilised and patients could get the benefits. It, however, didn’t happen and the Cath lab remained non-functional. Interestingly, some of the private hospitals lacking even quality cardiac services installed Cath labs and earned millions of rupees in the past few years from the sehat card. The KTH that is being run on adhoc basis as the hospital is yet to get a regular medical director and hospital director, could not utilise the opportunity.

Even now when the Cath lab is finally inaugurated, it will be a test for the hospital administration as well as the cardiology department to run it on regular basis as they have reportedly a single interventional cardiologist

Ehtesham Ali commended the cardiology department team for their dedication and termed the establishment of this cutting-edge Cath Lab as a landmark achievement. He reaffirmed the provincial government’s commitment to strengthening the healthcare sector and announced that similar Cath Labs will be set up in Swat, Dir, Dera Ismail Khan, and Chitral to enhance cardiac care across the province.