KP govt replaces members of MTIs' Boards of Governors

PESHAWAR: After months of preparations and subsequent delays, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government finally removed some members of the Board of Governors of the Medical Teaching Institutions (MTIs) and replaced them.

Instead of dissolving all the BoGs, which could have created a negative impression, the government preferred to replace certain members.

The caretaker government, headed by the then chief minister Syed Arshad Hussain Shah, had dissolved the BoGs and replaced them with people of multiple backgrounds, a majority of them having strong political connections.

Following its landslide victory in the February 8, 2024 general elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leadership decided to replace members of the BoGs.

It took a lot of time for the government to notify the BoGs. One reason behind the delay in notifying the BoGs was stated to be differences at the higher level over the selection of the BoG members.

However, unlike the caretaker government, most of the members notified by the present administration were known health experts.

As expected, Prof Dr Nausherwan Burki, was appointed as a member of the BoG of the Lady Reading Hospital Peshawar, KP’s oldest and largest public sector health facility.

Dr Burki is the architect of the so-called health reforms in KP. He has contributed to improving the health services particularly in the nine MTIs but at the same time, he has also been accused of ignoring the peripheries, injecting billions of taxpayers’ money into MTIs and hiring unnecessary managers.

Besides Dr Burki, Dr Shahnaz Nawaz was also appointed as the BoG member of LRH.

In another notification, the government removed Prof Dr Zubair Khan, chairman of BoG of the LRH, and the board members including Mohammad Faheem Siddiqi, Dr Musa Kaleem, Dr Khalid Khanzada, and Justice (Retired) Asadullah Khan Chamkani.

Similarly, Maj-Gen (retired) Amjad Fahim, Khalid Rasheed, and Malik Akhtar Hussain Awan were appointed as members of the BoG of Hayatabad Medical Complex Peshawar.

In HMC, the government through a notification removed Ghulam Qadir Khan, BoG chairman of Hayatabad Medical Complex.

Other members of the board, including Dr Mahfooz Hussain, Dil Roz Khan, Dr Mohammad Ali Chohan, and Akhtar Naveed were removed from their responsibilities as members of hospital BoG.

For the Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH), where a former chairman of the BoG, Dr Umar Ayub approached the Peshawar High Court against his likely removal from the board had sought a stay order, but the government removed Dr Umar Ayub and some other members and appointed Dr Taimoor Shah, and Dr Rubina Nauman Gilani as members of the hospital board.

Besides Dr Umar Ayub, the government has also removed Dr Tahir Ali Khan, and Yaqoob Khan from the hospital board.

The government did not touch the BoG of the Peshawar Institute of Cardiology (PIC), where Dr Mohammad Hafeezullah is chairman of the board. He is a relative of Health Minister Syed Qasim Ali Shah.

Only one BoG member of PIC, Asad Akbar was removed from the hospital board. In his place, a former BoG member of PIC, Dr Asif Loya, was appointed the hospital board member.

Prof Dr Noorul Iman, was again appointed member of the BoG of Qazi Hussain Ahmad Medical Complex Nowshera.

Previously he was appointed as chairman of the board of the same hospital and when he initiated a crackdown on mafias in the hospital and started appointments on merit, a Nowshera-based politician who belonged to the PTI facilitated protest demonstrations against him and forced the then PTI chief minister to remove him.

Besides Prof Nurul Iman, Dr Jehanzeb Malik was also appointed the BoG member of QHAMC Nowshera.

The government removed Mohammad Ishfaq Khan, chairman BoG QHAMC, along with Dr Habibur Rahman, Prof Mohammad Jahangir, Shabnam Khattak, Kashif Ali Shah, and Bakht Baz Khan.

For the Bacha Khan Medical Complex in Swabi, the government again appointed former chairman BoG, Maj-Gen (retired) Dr Mohammad Salahuddin Qasim as a member of the hospital board.

With him, a former BoG member, Dr Tufail Mohammad was also appointed the board member.

The government removed Prof Dr Ijaz Hassan Khan, chairman BoG of BKMC Swabi along with other members including Dr Mohammad Ishfaq, Prof Dr Sajjad Mohammad Khan, and Prof Noor Jahan.

Similarly, a former vice-chancellor of KMU Prof Dr Arshad Javaid was appointed as a member of the Mardan Medical Complex board of governors.

Besides him, Dr Najeebur Rahman Khan, and Dr Arif Aslam Kundi were also notified as members of the hospital board.

The government removed Attaullah KhanToru, former chairman BoG of Mardan Medical Complex, along with members, Arif Khan, Dr Zia Mohammad, Pir Waqar, and Dr Mohammad Arshad.

Prof Dr Abid Jameel and Dr Alamzeb Manan were appointed as members of the BoG of Ayub Medical Complex, Abbottabad.

The government also removed Ayaz Khan, Prof. Aftab Rubani, Asad Jadoon, Fawad Saleh, and Javid Ahmad Turk from the board of Ayub Medical Complex, Abbottabad.

Dr Saeedullah Shah, and Dr Zafarullah were appointed as members of the board of governors of KGN Bannu. Abdur Rauf, Damsaz Khan, Malik Niamatullah Khan, Abidullah Khan, and Attaullah Khan were removed from the KGN Bannu BoG.