Punjab Minister for Specialized Healthcare & Medical Education (SH&ME) Kh. Salman Rafique has said that construction/completion of health sector’s development projects is being carried out on fast track due to which significant improvement has been recorded in the health facilities. He further said that completion of different mega projects in Multan at a cost of Rs. 5.5 billion & the inauguration by the Chief Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif has further added lot of modern facilities in the system & the people of Multan & Southern Punjab would not bother to go to Lahore for their treatment.
In a statement here today, Kh. Salman Rafique said that apart from spending billions of Rs on the revamping of DHQ/THQ hospitals & provision of CT scan machines at district level, as well as setting up of ICU’s in the DHQ hospitals, a number of mega projects have also been completed in Multan. He said that 150 beds have been added in the Children Hospital Multan at a cost of Rs. 1929, similarly 150-bedded Multan Institute of Kidney Diseases (MIKD) has been completed at a cost of Rs. 1444 million moreover burn unit of international standard has been functionalized at a cost of Rs. 878 million. Rs. 411 million has been spent on government Shahbaz Sharif DHQ hospital & 323 million rupees have been spent on the construction of Regional Blood Centre (RBC). Kh. Salman Rafique was of the view that construction of mega projects in Dera Ghazi Khan, Bahawalnager & other cities is also continued & the Chief Minister is personally monitoring the health sector development projects & taking keen interest in the completion of these projects. The Minister said that he himself & Secretary Najam Ahmad Shah also visited Rawalpindi Division to review the pace of work on the ongoing projects. Kh. Salman Rafique said that the concerned officers & the contractor was reprimanded on the slow pace of work on Rawalpindi Institute of Urology & Kidney Diseases (RIKD) & clear directions have been issued for accelerating the construction work on the project. The Minister said that surgical tower of Mayo hospital has also been completed & few days back operations/procedures have been started. Kh. Salman Rafique said that the top most priority of the government is to insure that best medical treatment facilities in maximum quantity to be made available for the people for which hectic efforts & solid steps are being taken by the health departments.