Fate of maternity hospital hangs in the balance

Federal govt suddenly stops funds for only specialised health facility

RAWALPINDI:

Work on the 200-bed Mother and Child Hospital has virtually been stopped by the federal government due to paucity of funds and change of hands at the centre and in Punjab.

Rawalpindi's only specialised maternity hospital could not be completed even after 18 years due to one or the other reason.

Due to the inordinate delay the cost of the project has ballooned from Rs 2 billion to Rs9 billion.

In 2006, former interior minister Sheikh Rashid laid the foundation stone of the project, which had to be completed within one-and-a-half years at a cost of Rs2 billion.

However, due to the paucity of funds and the change of governments, the work on the project has almost been stopped since the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government was booted out of power.

Sources said that the ongoing work on the project was stopped after the caretaker setup came to power in Punjab.

According to officials, 95 per cent of work on the hospital has been completed. The hospital parking lot has been converted into a cricket ground by children. The hospital's modern drainage system has started to breakdown due to lack of maintenance while bats have camped out in the main lobby of the hospital.

The health facility consists of 200 beds and is adjacent to TB Hospital. However, the healthcare facility is becoming an unfortunate project of Rawalpindi. It had to be the only modern hospital in Rawalpindi to provide latest treatment to mothers and their children.

Health department officials said on condition of anonymity that due to political strife and the change of governments the project was facing an inordinate delay, depriving the citizens of basic health facilities.

The 200-bed hospital was to have 15 modern operation theatres, a single nursing hostel and other modern facilities where the complete treatment of mother and child was to be free.

As soon as this hospital became operational, the gynecology department from all allied hospitals in Rawalpindi was to be transferred to this hospital. Officials said that former prime minister Imran Khan started work on the hospital in 2019 and provided a grant of Rs1 billion with a direction to complete the project by April 2022 so that women and newborns could get the best health facilities. Modern machinery has also been installed in the hospital, however, it is getting dust and rusting.

The officials said that a large patient load from all other hospitals can be transferred to it it was made operationalized at the earliest.

Officials said that 95 per cent of work on the hospital’s structure including the OPD, wards, indoor, labor room, operation theater, emergency, laboratory, blood bank, staff offices, nursing hostel, parking area, lawn and doctors' hostel has been completed.

The hospital is fully air-conditioned and all electrical work has been completed.

Former interior minister Sheikh Rasheed used to visit the hospital thrice a week during the PTI government and inspect the progress of the project.

As soon as the PTI government was booted out of power, the work on the project was stopped.

The officials asked the federal and caretaker Punjab governments to start work on the project so that women and newborns could be treated in a state-of-the-art health facility.

The officials said that work on the hospital was carried out by the federal government and work is almost complete with the installation of elevators and machinery pending. They said that the hiring of human resource and recruitment of doctors and nurses for the hospital was also pending.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, April 15^th, 2023.