NIPA hospital handed over to Dow varsity for COVID-19 patients

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah handed over the under-construction hospital at NIPA Karachi to the Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) and directed Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Saeed Quraishy to make the hospital’s 200-bed portion operational within a month.

The government is planning to establish an Infectious Diseases Hospital (IDH) at NIPA for the treatment of COVID-19 patients in Karachi after most of the hospital beds in the high-dependency units (HDUs) and intensive care units (ICUs) at the city’s public and private health facilities got occupied with patients, whose number is on the rise with each passing day.

During his visit to the under-construction health facility, the chief minister was informed by provincial health secretary Zahid Abbasi that the health department had already released Rs1.2 billion to complete the structure of the hospital building and procurement of the necessary equipment.

The health secretary maintained that the building had two blocks and each block was a separate three-storey building. The hospital has a capacity of 400 beds. “The Block-A with a 200-bed capacity has minor works left to make it functional, which can be completed within a few weeks," he said. Shah called Dr Saeed Quraishy and asked him to take over the under-construction health facility, directing him to make its Block-A with 200 beds functional within a month.

The chief minister was told that there was no proper power and water connections at the hospital. He phoned the chief executive officer of K-Electric and directed him to provide a proper power connection to the hospital on an emergency basis and the paper work for a new connection or a PMT would continue.

He also directed KWSB MD Asadullah Khan to provide a water connection to the hospital and also ensure the supply of water through tankers from Friday morning. Shah directed Secretary Works and Services Imran Atta Soomro to ensure round-the- clock presence of the engineer in the hospital building so that its construction could be completed within a month.

Dental Hospital

The chief minister also visited the Dental Hospital of the Dow University in Gulistan-e-Jauhar, opposite Karachi University. It is a 50-bed hospital structure. The chief minister directed the VC of the Dow University to complete the work on the hospital within a month and make it functional for coronavirus patients.

He directed Secretary Health Zahid Abbasi to provide necessary equipment and staff to the hospital so that it could be made functional. He said he would visit the hospital once again most probably next week to review the progress of the work.

The chief minister was accompanied by Minister for Information Syed Nasir Hussain Shah and adviser on law Murtaza Wahab.

DNA Lab at KU

Chief Minister Shah visited the Sindh Forensic DNA and Serology Laboratory at the University of Karachi and directed its researchers to expedite the DNA tests on passengers who had died in a PIA plane crash on May 22.

“The family members of the passengers who died in the plane crash are in such severe pain because they have not only lost their relatives but now they are unable to identify their bodies to perform their funeral,” he said. “This pain will continue piercing them in their hearts the whole life, but we can mitigate it by handing over them the bodies just after identifying them through DNA tests.”

Briefing the chief minister, the lab in-charge said that out of 97 bodies 50 had been identified and handed over to their heirs. He added that at present 29 bodies were lying in the mortuaries of Edhi and 18 in Chhipa.

The chief minister was told that 12 bodies identified through DNA included those of Yasmeen, Attaullah, Shehnaz, Khalida, Khalid Sherdil, Saad Mahmood, Usman and Surya. Three other bodies identified through DNA have also been handed over. Two DNA reports were missed/rejected due to the tagging issue.

At this, the chief minister directed the district administration to resolve the issue and get the bodies identified so that they could be handed over to their relatives.

The chief minister appreciated the lab staff, technicians and the administration for their untiring work and dedication to help the aggrieved families to identify their deceased family

members who died in the plane crash.