The five-storey Surgical Tower at Mayo Hospital being constructed to bring various units of a discipline under one roof has been awaiting funds for its completion.
The proposed Surgical Tower would house 16 modern operation theatres, isolation wards, surgical ICUs, Day Care Surgery, offices of consultants and other doctors etc. Costly equipment like CT-Scan, MRI and X-ray machines were also part of the project.
The construction work came to a halt many times since the launch of the project in April 2006, mainly because of funds shortage, a senior official told Dawn on Tuesday.
He said according to the PC-I, the total estimated project cost was Rs1,695 million and presently the building required Rs450 million only for its completion.
He said the construction was to be completed in 2010 and the deadline was later extended to December 2012.
Last time the construction work was stopped six months ago amid ‘rumors’ that the provincial government had diverted a major chunk of the health sector funds towards the Metro Bus project.
The official said the incomplete structure of the building showed lack of interest by the Punjab government in that ‘vital scheme’.
It was considered a ‘model scheme’ when the idea of housing all the units of one discipline – surgery – in a single building was floated by experts to facilitate work of surgeons of various departments of the largest teaching hospital of the province.
The number of trauma, accident and other emergency cases brought to the hospital was alarmingly high as compared to any other state-run health facility. The project envisaged ‘a small hospital within a major hospital’.
Presently, the official said, Mayo Hospital was attending over 10,000 patients at its emergency and outdoor departments daily that showed the scale of burden on its administration and the doctors.
He said the lack of space and weak infrastructure at the teaching institute were major issues which underlined the need for bringing all facilities under one roof.
The delay in the construction has also resulted in additional fiscal burden on the national exchequer. In addition, the procurement and installation of the equipment will also take time to make the Surgical Tower fully operational for the patients.
According to documents, the first PC-I of the scheme was prepared and approved in 2004. Later, the PC-I was revised in 2005, 2011 and 2012, respectively.
According to the 2012-revised PC-I, of the total approved cost of the Surgical Tower, Rs983.8 million was allocated for the building construction and Rs712 million for equipment procurement.
Originally, the approved bed strength of the Surgical Tower was 344. It was later enhanced to 521.
The total estimated covered area of the five-storey building was 25,3041 sq ft that also included a huge basement.
The documents said the funds were required to start work on tiled flooring, installation of air-conditioning system, lifts, an electric sub-station and ‘fair face work’.
Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Zahid Pervez said he was hopeful that the funds would be released soon for completion of the building.
Dispelling the impression that the Punjab government was not taking interest in the project, the MS claimed major construction work of the building had already been done.
The main issue was procurement of the equipment which would be purchased and installed in phases, he said.
Dr Zahid, who is also director of the Surgical Tower project, said he was in contact with the authorities concerned for the funds release.
“The facility will be made fully functional soon for the patients,” Dr Zahid claimed.
