Delayed by a decade: Polyclinic expansion plan in doldrums

Lack of facilities compels locals to go to expensive laboratories

ISLAMABAD: Even after a decade, construction work on the expansion of the  Polyclinic hospital could not begin. Like the former PPP government, the present government PML-N in its five years tenure remained unsuccessful in initiating construction work on the project. The hospital is in dire need of expansion. The delay is not only increasing the number of patients at the hospital but also posing difficulties in offering standard treatment facilities due to the lack of space in the present building.

New advanced equipment including CT Scans and MRI machines used for offering updated test services to the patients could not be set up due to the lack of space in the present building of the hospital and no canteen or cafeteria could be set up to offer hygienic food to the doctors and the patients within the hospital premises.



The lack of these facilities compels the patients and their families to go to the local laboratories for several tests which unfortunately entail the payment of hefty charges. They also have to rely on the open hotels that provide substandard food.

According to Polyclinic Hospital sources, during the morning and evening of the hospital, 6,000-8,000 patients on a daily basis visit the OPD for treatment while annually; nearly 0.3 million -  0.35 million patients are treated at the hospital. Considering the number of patients coming to the hospital and the uncontrollably increasing population, nine years ago in 2008, an approval for the expansion of the hospital was granted. In this regard, the Argentinian government, adjacent to  Polyclinic hospital, granted permission for construction of the hospital at the Argentina park. However, after the issuance of the stay order on initiating the construction work, no further progress could be made.

Last year, after taking back the stay orders in the favour of the masses, CDA administration allotted two and a half acres of land from the Argentina Park to the hospital administration. The hospital administration has occupied the land and erected bars to use it as a parking spot, the ministry of CAD has claimed that by the end of the financial year 2017-18, work on the expansion project of the hospital will commence.

Sources have informed that later a petition was filed in the court regarding the usage of the parking space as a parking spot, hence the hospital cannot be constructed on the parking space and the court had issued a stay order which so far could not be removed, it must be noted that according to the Polyclinic expansion project, a high story building had to be constructed in the Argentina park and current place of hospital through which the number of beds were to be increased from 550 to 1100.

The construction of the hospital had to be completed in two phases. According to phase i, initially a new block had to be constructed with the two and a half acres of land obtained from Argentina Park. After the construction, the current hospital was to be shifted in this block. According to phase ii, the current hospital was to be demolished to construct a new block. The block constructed from phase i was to include information management system, critical care services, clinical departments, diagnostic facilities, specialised nursery care, a complete computerized investigation system, neurosurgery, cardiac surgery, plastic surgery CT scan, and MRI and a modernised operation theatre. Parking was supposed to be organised in the basement.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 6^th, 2018.