Polyclinic’s expansion begins at long last

Health minister inaugurates project to add 300 beds to facility

ISLAMABAD:

The long-awaited expansion of the Polyclinic Hospital that envisioned the addition of three hundred beds has finally gotten underway after a delay of over a decade.

The Ministry of National Health Services Regulations and Coordination will provide a development budget of over Rs.9.91 billion for the project, said Health Minister Abdul Qadir Patel who laid the foundation stone of the expansion project in G-11-3 on Thursday.

The expansion of the Polyclinic Hospital was first planned on the Argentina Park opposite the Polyclinic Hospital in 2010. However, area residents challenged the decision to convert the park into a healthcare facility. A stay order for court meant that the project was stalled with authorities failing to provide an alternate venue.

This project will be completed in three years, said Patel.

He added that after the expansion, construction would begin at the Federal Government Polyclinic Hospital in G-11/3.

He noted that the rising population in the capital and adjoining areas meant there would be more patients. The burden of patients on federal hospitals is increasing, he noted, saying that between 5,000 to 6,000 patients visit the Polyclinic Hospital daily.

Health centre in G-13

Patel also inaugurated a ‘state-of-the-art’ community health centre in Sector G-13 on the outskirts of the federal capital on Tuesday.

The centre consists of 70 beds and would provide primary healthcare facilities to around 200,000 people living in the area including Golra Sharif.

According to Patel, the centre will offer maternity facilities and will also have paediatricians. It would also be equipped with facilities for immunization, the minister added. X-ray and ultrasound would also be available at the centre.

Aside from medical practitioners, the facility would also have the facility to conduct basic blood tests.

Qadir added that the current government was taking ‘practical steps’ for the development of the healthcare infrastructure across the country.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, August 4^th, 2023.