The Public Private Partnership (PPP) in its 29th Policy Board meeting held here on Saturday decided to operate two newly constructed hospitals, Jacobabad Institute of Medical Science (JIMS) and Matli Taluka Hospital on private partnership so that they could provide efficient services round the clock.
Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah chaired the meeting attended by the PPP Board members including provincial minister Dr Azar Pechuho, Saeed Ghani, Syed sardar Shah, Chief Secretary Mumtaz Shah, Chairperson P&D Naheed Shah, PSCM Sajid Jamal Abro, VC NED University Dr Sarosh Lodhi, provincial secretaries, Qazi Shahid Parvez, Najam Shah, Saeed Awan, Ahsan Mangi, Aslam Ansari, MD PPP Unit Khalid Shaikh, Md water Board Asadullah Khan and others.
The meeting was told that JIMS has been established with American over an area of five acres with a cost of $14.5 billion.
It is a 133-beded health facility with total staff strength of 141, of them only 14 are government employees. Presently its few departments functional. It OPD cases during 2018 recorded at 492,566. Obstetrics cases were 4130 and family planning cases were 2061. This health facility being located at Jacobabad is being availed by a large number of patients from Balochistan and Sindh.
Murad Ali Shah said that it was a state of art health facility and we should operate as a tertiary health facility. The health department through PPP unit submitted that the hospital may be outsourced so that it could operate efficiently and round the clock.
The board approved the proposal of inviting Expression of Interest from private sector, meanwhile health facilities would further be improved by improve its overall facilities.
The meeting also discussed 30-beded Taluka Hospital Matli established in 1975 and upgraded in 1978. It was providing OPD services to 800 to 100 patients, and has 20 to 25 bed occupancy rate per day. It has a TB and dental Clinics and family planning unit and a well-equipped labour room where on average 100 to 125 deliveries are made every month. The hospital has an X-ray department, Ultra-sound machine and also ambulance service.
The health department through PPP unit requested the board to outsource the taluka hospital so that its administration and other requirement of staff and residential colony and other requirements could be met. The board approved the request, however the chief minister directed health department to meet the medical and paramedical staff requirement of the hospital.
Malir Expressway: The board meeting was told that the project was ready to launch through PPP mode but there was a ban on lifting of sand and gravel from the bed of the Malir River. Therefore, the cost of the project would increase.
The Sindh Chief Minister directed the chief secretary to conduct the environmental study of the project in the issue of lifting sand and gravel from its bed.
If the study pointed out lifting of sand and gravel to be detrimental for the environment it would be abandoned and sand and gravel would be brought from somewhere else, otherwise Supreme Court may be requested to lift the ban in the larger interest of the project.—INP
