JPMC, CHK sans thoracic surgery dept

MN Report

KARACHI - Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre’s (JPMC) Thoracic surgery department had been lying abandoned since 2013 reportedly due to unavailability of thoracic surgeons.

Moreover, Thoracic surgery department of another major public sector hospital of the metropolis - Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK) – had been shifted to the Ojha campus of Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) a long time ago.

Regarding JPMC’s Thoracic surgery department, the health facility’s deputy director (Admin) and focal person Dr Jawaid Jamali said that it was closed some three years back following retirement of its chest surgeon.

The JPMC administration, he added, has no authority to hire the services of chest surgeons for reopening its thoracic surgery department due to some legal issues.
About the CHK’s Thoracic surgery department, medical superintendent Prof Saeed Ahmed Qureshi said that the department was shifted to DUHS’ Ojha campus many years ago.

Sources in both the major hospitals of the city confided to this scribe that in the absence of thoracic surgery departments, patients requiring thoracic surgery were being referred to private hospitals.

They explained that thoracic surgeon is a medical doctor who performs operations on the chest, lungs, esophagus, and other organs in the chest. Thoracic surgery refers to any type of surgery performed on organs and tissues in the chest cavity, such as lungs when medication or other treatments are not effective, they added.

Meanwhile, JPMC and CHK have also closed their maxillofacial surgery departments due to shortage of surgeons in this filed.