The federal government will have to pay the medical expenses of its employees being treated at the Sheikh Zayed Hospital.
Following the hospital’s transfer to the provincial government, the decision was taken during a transition committee meeting chaired by Senator Ishaq Dar and attended by top provincial bureaucracy and hospital administration.
The decision followed the provincial government’s strategy to generate revenues for the hospital which has to be paid Rs 1.2 billion by the federal government. According to the revenue generation model discussed in the meeting, the federal government will pay the treatment costs for its employees. The provincial government has also decided to take up the issue of the transfer of funds from the federal government to ensure a “smooth supply” of funds to the hospital.
Two committees have also been set up to look into administrative and financial matters, including the hospital’s transition to the provincial government.
The committee, while following the Supreme Court’s ruling, will not change the autonomy or administrative hierarchy of the hospital, which runs under a chairman, unlike the administrative model in place in most hospitals in the Punjab.
The committee decided that the hospital will be run as a trust hospital and issues regarding students, patients and affiliation of attached medical colleges will be taken up in the next meeting.
Sheikh Zayed Hospital Chairman Prof Zafar Iqbal said: “We hope for a smooth transfer from the federal to the provincial government. The provincial government has so far been very helpful in the transition process.” In reply to a question, he said the college fees issue is being heard in the court and nothing could be said until the court issued a verdict.