NK children hospital’s upgraded facilities yet to be utilized

By Our Staff Reporter

Karachi: Sindh health department has not yet been able to evolve a proper mechanism for managing the affairs of its recently upgraded Sindh Govt’s North Karachi Children Hospital being run under public-private partnership.

Sources said that though the Children Hospital was upgraded about eight months back following an agreement with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), senior officials of provincial health depart are yet to evolve a mechanism for running the health facility under public-private partnership.

They said that though the strength of the hospital’s bed under its up-gradation plan had been increased from 50 to 200, it was not being utilized properly despite the fact that a number of facilities, including operation theatres, medical and surgical ICUs, nursery, incubators, ventilators, are available at the health facility.

The hospital following completion of its expansion plan at an estimated cost of over Rs1 billion had become the city’s second largest children healthcare institution after National Institute of Child Hospital (NICH).

However, the provincial health department has, so far, failed to hire the services of medical staff required to run the upgraded health facility under the public-private partnership.

Sindh Secretary Health Saeed Ahmed Mangnejo was not available for his comments.