ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of National Health Services (NHS) plans to outsource the 250-bed Isolation Hospital and Infection Treatment Centre (IHITC), spreading over a 70,000 square foot area.

A six-member committee, headed by a Special Secretary, has been constituted with the directive to prepare and submit its recommendations within two weeks. Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) will provide secretariat support to the committee

According to sources, the ministry has in principle decided to hand over the hospital to a private medical college which will use it as an affiliated hospital and hostel.

IHITC, located on Kuri Road, was established during Covid-19. The hospital has treatment and diagnostic facilities and ventilators.

When established, the hospital had recruited a chief medical officer, infectious disease specialists, internists, intensivists, pathologists, radiologists, medical officers, director of nursing, nurses, pathology lab technicians, radiology technicians, chief pharmacist, laundry services personnel, drivers/runners, security personnel and a number of other employees on a contract basis.

According to a document, available with Dawn, the committee, headed by the special secretary health, includes joint secretary (hospitals), JED (non-medical) Pims Waris Ali Raza, procurement specialist for health ministry and UNICEF Mohsin Khan, director general health ministry and deputy executive director (non-medical) Pims Dr. Aneza Jalil are the members of the committee.

The Terms of Reference (TORs) of the committee include reviewing the legal framework for outsourcing IHITC in the light of relevant rules and regulations. The committee will also evaluate the existing infrastructure and facilities at IHITC.

The document further shows that the committee will assess the feasibility of outsourcing IHITC for its optimal utilisation and determine whether to outsource the entire IHITC as a hospital or specific services such as diagnostics etc.

It will also review and analyse the outsourcing model implemented in Punjab for potential application to IHITC. It will engage with key stakeholders, including healthcare professionals, and potential outsourcing partners to gather insight and feedback.

The committee will facilitate Pims in preparing bidding documents, Expressions of Interest (EoI), Requests for Proposals (RFP), etc., for the timely completion of the outsourcing process.

Secretary health was not available for comment.

A senior officer of the health ministry, wishing not to be quoted, said that the IHITC was functional and there were three shifts having one doctor in each shift.

He expressed the hope that, if the hospital is given to the private sector, people will develop trust in it and patients will start going there.

However, another officer of the ministry said that it was being considered to hand over the building to some private medical college which will use the building as a teaching hospital and will also establish its hostel there.

“Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has just announced the Health Tower in Sector H-16 which will take years to complete. Premier should allocate funding for already constructed buildings so a well-furnished hospital could start functioning within days.

“People prefer to go Pims and Polyclinic because the majority of patients of IHITC are referred to Pims and Polyclinic. If proper human resources and budget are provided, people will start going to IHITC and it will reduce the load on Pims and Polyclinic,” he said.

Published in Dawn, July 25th, 2024