Leaky storage: Rain ruins equipment at King Abdullah Teaching Hospital

Administration blames construction company for faulty structure

MANSEHRA: Rain water that seeped into King Abdullah Teaching Hospital’s (KATH) stores damaged machinery and medicines worth millions, said official sources on Thursday.

The hospital was one of the most affected facilities where rainwater over the last three days entered the premises, flooding rooms used to store medicine and machinery. Damaged equipment included an X-ray machine, ultrasound and dialysis machines, air conditioners, laboratory and operation theatre gear, electric water coolers, mattresses, blankets and bed sheets. Besides these essentials, infusion drips, vaccines, injections were also rendered useless because of the seepage. Tablets washed away in the water that flooded the premises.

Blame game

According to the KATH administration, it was the faulty construction that led to the premises getting inundated. Water seeped in from the main entrance and entered the basement where there are over 20 rooms, one of them the storeroom.  The store had nearly two feet of standing water, said an official of the administration. “When officials went inside to get some medicine, they found the room filled with stinking water.”

Rain water that seeped into King Abdullah Teaching Hospital’s stores damaged machinery worth millions. PHOTO: EXPRESS

The roofs of newly-constructed outpatient and emergency departments were also leaking. When approached for comments, Medical Superintendent Dr Bashir confirmed the machines and medicines were partially damaged. He said the damage to the equipment was still being calculated and he would be able to share details of the exact loss once the assessment is completed.

However, Bashir blamed the construction firms for the loss, saying he had written to the authorities several times and informed them about the faulty construction but it fell on deaf ears and eventually resulted in this loss.

King Abdullah Teaching Hospital was once the district headquarters hospital that was damaged during the earthquake in October, 2005. Funds came in from Saudi Arabia for the reconstruction of the facility but even after so many years the hospital has not been built properly.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 25^th, 2015.