Nawaz Sharif Kidney Hospital in Swat to be functional soon: officials

Despite facility's completion in December 2014 it has not been operational due to several issues

The newly-constructed Nawaz Sharif Kidney Hospital in Swat district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) will be inaugurated soon, official sources said on Tuesday.

“The 116-bed hospital which has been completed at a cost of about Rs600 million and spreads over 32 kanals will soon be operational,” Radio Pakistan claimed quoting official sources.



PHOTO: RADIO PAKISTAN

Although the hospital was opened for patients in December 2014 after its construction had been announced by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on November 12, 2012, as a present to the residents of Swat and Malakand Divisions from the Punjab Hospital Trust, it has not been operational so far.

Earlier this month, reports had revealed that despite the availability of hospital staff, medicines and necessary equipment the facility could not be made operational mainly due to the load-shedding and low electricity voltage.



The medical superintendent of the hospital, Dr Ghulam Rehmani, had told The Express Tribune that load-shedding and low electricity voltages were the main reasons for this status.

The medical superintendent had further revealed that the equipment worth millions of rupees was damaged due to malfunctioning caused by erratic voltage, adding facilities like nephrology, radiology, lithotripsy and an operation theatre were all available at the hospital, but to no one’s advantage.

After Operation Rah-e-Rast against the Taliban, Swat was termed a war-struck zone and many families from the district migrated to other districts of K-P.



Even after families returned, Swat was devastated, the administration was disturbed, schools were destroyed, roads were unpaved and hospitals were empty. The Punjab Hospital Trust then gifted the modern kidney hospital to the residents of Swat and Malakand Division.