Disagreement between CADD, hospital officials created the issue. PHOTO: FILE
Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) will soon have a new administrator appointed as the paperwork related to hiring has been completed, and interviews with prospective candidates are scheduled for next week.
“A special 17-member board, constituted by the organisation and approved by President Mamnoon Hussain, who is the chancellor of Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University (SZABMU), is likely to conduct interviews on Thursday and Friday,” Dr Javed Akram, vice-chancellor of SZABMU and Pims, told The Express Tribune.
He said the board was empowered to appoint an administrator for the hospital from the public or private sector with a salary package corresponding to the appointee’s qualifications.
The criteria set by the committee for the administrator include a medical degree, a post-graduate degree in hospital management, and at least 20 years of medical experience along with 10 years of experience at a teaching hospital. The board had received 19 applications for the post.
Former Pims administrator Dr Altaf Hussain had been appointed by Dr Akram in January 2014, but earlier this month, the Capital Administrative and Development Division (CADD) removed him on charges of mismanagement. CADD also withdrew the position of administration additional director on the same day, leaving the hospital without any senior admin officials.
There is an acute shortage of public hospitals to cater to the needs of poor patients coming not only from rural and urban areas of Islamabad but also from northern Punjab, KP, Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir. Catering to such a huge number of patients without administration could prove to be a huge risk.
In the outskirts of Islamabad, there are 14 basic healthcare units (BHU) and two rural healthcare centres (RHC) which are in pathetic condition. All rural health centres lack basic facilities and are in shambles. Health professionals are unwilling to work at these centres because they have no incentive to do so, thereby depriving an estimated 600,000 people of healthcare services.
Dr Altaf had later filed a writ petition against CADD in the Islamabad High Court, but the court had dismissed the petition.
“The lucrative salary packages of administrators is also one of the main reasons for the wrangling between CADD and hospital officials,” a source privy to the issue told The Express Tribune. He also said that at a time when healthcare facilities were insufficient to meet requirements of the growing population of the federal capital, this disagreement could further aggravate health sector problems.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 21st, 2016.
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