KARACHI: Chief Minis­ter Syed Murad Ali Shah on Saturday approved additional 200 seats of postgraduate (PG) doctors to meet their shortage in the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) which has now become a 2,200-bed facility.

At a meeting with the JPMC Executive Director Prof Shahid Rasool at the Chief Minister House, the CM also said that the budget for the JPMC, one of the major hospital in the province, would be enhanced to meet its growing needs as the bed capacity of the facility had increased from 1,600 to 2,200.

Sources told Dawn that the financial health of the hospital also came under discussion and the chief minister decided to increase the budget of the JPMC.

The sources said that there had been an acute shortage of PG doctors in the JPMC as no recruitment was made for the past two years.

They said that the JMPC had advertised the vacant posts in the past three years but the recruitment could not be made due to litigation by some of the hospital employees.

The sources said that the provincial government might recruit PG doctors for other government hospitals and post them on deputation in the JPMC.

According to a press statement issued from the CM House, the JPMC executive director gave a detailed briefing to the chief minister on the state of affairs in the hospital.

Prof Shahid Rasool told the chief minister that there was an acute shortage of doctors in the JPMC which had been a 1,600-bed hospital and had now become a 2,200-bed hospital. He said that number of PG doctors in the hospital was 753.

Keeping in view the requirement of the doctors, the chief minister approved additional positions/seats of PGs by 200. After the approval of new 200 PG seats, the number of PGs reached 953.

During the discussion, Mr Shah also directed Prof Shahid Rasool to establish a central warehouse of medicine at the JPMC.

He told the JPMC executive director that the provincial government would provide the hospital with additional funds in the Annual Development Program (ADP).

Prof Shahid Rasool requested the chief minister to help the JPMC construct a parking plaza. The CM approved the request and said the schemes would be included in the ADP.

Published in Dawn, May 12th, 2024