LAHORE: The Surgical Tower of Mayo Hospital will be completed in the next calendar year as construction work is now on fast track and finishing of physical infrastructure is in progress.

“The government is fully funding the project and has provided Rs660 million for its completion,” Specialised Healthcare and Medical Education Department Secretary Najam Ahmed Shah told newsmen after inspecting installation of the HVAC system besides other construction and finishing work at the Surgical Tower of Mayo Hospital on Tuesday.

The mega project would have 400 beds as well as 18 operation theatres which would be equal to two district headquarters hospitals, said Mr Shah.

The secretary said that soon after completion of the Surgical Tower, work on the master plan of Mayo Hospital would be started. Surgical wards and operation theatres would be shifted to the Surgical Tower and renovation of the main building would start.

Mr Shah said that initially experts estimated that the completion of the project would require two years. However, steps were taken to further accelerate the work on the project and complete it within 2017 calendar year, said the secretary who was accompanied by Mayo Hospital Chief Executive Prof Dr Asad Aslam Khan and other senior doctors.

Project Director Prof Ibrar Ashraf said that so far Rs1,186 million had been spent on the project. Process to procure 55 sets of medical equipment out of 90 had been completed besides SNE for human resource (HR).

The first PC-I of the surgical tower was approved in 2004 with total estimated project cost of Rs1,695 million. Later, it was revised in 2005 and construction work began in April 2006. The construction was to be completed in 2010. Construction work on the project came to a halt many times mainly because of funds shortage and the deadline was extended to December 2012.

Meanwhile, the PC-I of the project was revised in 2011 and 2012.

According to the latest PC-I, of the total approved cost of the Surgical Tower, Rs983.8 million were allocated for the building construction and Rs712 million for equipment procurement.

Originally, the approved bed strength of the Surgical Tower was 344. It was later enhanced to 521 but the figure again was reduced to 400.

The total estimated covered area of the five-storey building was 25,3041 sqft that also included a huge basement.

CT scan machines: Provincial Minister for Primary and Secondary Health Khwaja Imran Nazir says CT scan machines are being provided to every district headquarters hospital and the project will be completed by April 2017.

The project is being carried out on the orders of the chief minister through the public-private partnership, says a handout.

The private company that will install these machines would be responsible for repair and maintenance and round-the-clock working and the government will pay for every CT scan test, says the minister.

Published in Dawn December 21st, 2016