ISLAMABAD: The development of a Doctor’s Enclave on the outskirts of the capital – a scheme that aims to provide residential plots to doctors in a proposed ‘Health Park’ – seems to have hit a snag.

The project became known after a number of doctors reported receiving letters saying they had been successful in the balloting process for plots. But following concerns raised by the medical fraternity, the process of nominations for plots has been cancelled, according to a notice displayed on the Health Park website.

The Health Park is “a strategic healthcare and wellness project developed through collaboration between the Health Services Academy and Sevenera (an Omani real estate development firm),” CEO Health Park Imran Mehmood told Dawn.

The initiative aimed to turn Pakistan into a venue for medical tourism, he said.

Medical community raises objections over exclusion from balloting for Doctor’s Enclave

Mr Mehmood said that working in collaboration with the Health Services Academy (HSA), they had provided land for the establishment of health facilities where patients from across the country and around the world could come for treatment.

Within this facility, a portion of land had been set aside for the development residential plots for doctors, Mr Mehmood said, adding that balloting was held and 1,000 names were selected from around 10,000 doctors, who were then contacted to secure the plots.

According to the Health Park CEO, Doctor’s Enclave “has been registered as D1 Capital Park City” and is overseen by the Punjab Housing and Town Planning Agency, he said.

But a number of doctors who had received letters from the Health Park had voiced fears that this may be some kind of ploy, as sensitive personal information was being sought from them for the sake of registration.

Although the Health Park CEO denied the claim, he admitted that sending letters directly to doctors, without publishing an advertisement for wider awareness within the medical fraternity, was a mistake on their part.

In the wake of an outcry within the medical community, the HAS Vice Chancellor Dr Shahzad Ali Khan told Dawn on Monday the letters sent to doctors were being retracted.

“New balloting for plots will be done in the presence of doctors community representatives like PMA in coming days,” he said.

A statement shared by the Health Park CEO on Monday said that in the wake of concerns raised by the medical community, “authorities have formally revoked all plot nominations for the Health Park project. The decision aims to uphold transparency, equity, and due process in plot allocation”.

“Pakistan has 325,284 registered medical practitioners and 40,854 registered dental practitioners. However, due to the limited availability of verified records, only 10,000 doctors were considered for the balloting of 1,000 plots, the statement said.

“This exclusion led to objections from other medical professionals and caused uncertainty among some ballot winners due to misinformation and negative propaganda surrounding the initiative,” it said.

The CEO claimed that all payments made for plot bookings have been fully refunded to the respective applicants, and that authorities were “working on a revised and more inclusive mechanism to ensure wider participation and greater stakeholder confidence”.

Published in Dawn, March 25th, 2025