Rawalpindi to have 3,000-bed hospital

Rs50b Kulsoom Nawaz Sharif General Hospital to be built on former GTS land

RAWALPINDI:

The Punjab government has approved a mega project to establish the 3,000-bed Kulsoom Nawaz Sharif General Hospital on the 36-kanal vacant site of the former Government Transport Service (GTS) along Peshawar Road in Chohar Harpal, Rawalpindi Cantonment.

The project, estimated to cost Rs50 billion, will be launched in the 2027-28 financial year, with funding to be shared by the federal and provincial governments. Modern medical equipment, including an advanced dialysis system, will be installed after completion of the building.

The land, owned by the Punjab Communications Department, has remained vacant for the past 35 years and was briefly used as a private bus terminal. The project has been forwarded to the Punjab Planning Board for final approval and planning.

Owing to a severe shortage of funds and the ongoing economic crisis, it has been shifted to the next financial year.

The hospital will include 13 operation theatres, outpatient department, two emergency units and specialised wards for maternity, children, eye, ENT, kidney, cardiac, medical, orthopaedic and neurosurgery treatment. It will also have an attached teaching hospital, nursing hostel, doctors' hostel and laboratories for all departments.

The land will be transferred to the Health Department.

Located on Peshawar Road, the site offers easy access from all directions and is close to the motorway and GT Road, which is expected to improve the survival rate of accident victims. It will also facilitate patients referred from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to Rawalpindi and Islamabad.

Federal Parliamentary Secretary Malik Abrar Ahmed said Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz had selected Rawalpindi Cantonment for Punjab's largest 3,000-bed hospital.

He said the cantonment lacked a major public hospital and the project would benefit around 500,000 residents besides creating employment opportunities for local skilled youth. He said the hospital would be completed within a record two years and described it as a major gift for the cantonment population.