No MRI facility at Rawalpindi’s public hospitals

In the wake of Holy Family Hospital's closure due to ongoing renovation work, patients, particularly those with low-income backgrounds are grappling with the lack of MRI testing facilities at public hospitals in the Rawalpindi district.

Inflation-stricken families of ailing patients have to bear the financial burden of private MRI tests that can cost between Rs15,000 and Rs20,000. With the hospital's departments relocated to other facilities, including Benazir Bhutto General Hospital, District Headquarters Hospital, Red Crescent Hospital, and the Rawalpindi Institute of Urology, residents are facing limited access to essential medical services.

While CT scan services are available at two of these alternative hospitals, the critical MRI tests, previously provided at HFH for Rs4,000 to Rs4,500, have become prohibitively expensive in the private sector. Due to the renovation project, the MRI machine at the HFH remains locked, rendering it inaccessible to patients from across the district.

HFH MS Dr Ijaz Butt said due to the ongoing construction work, it is currently impossible to use the MRI machine which has been temporarily stored in an operational condition, and the technicians and medical staff associated with it have been transferred to other hospitals.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 14^th, 2023.