Pre-bidding conference for outsourcing of clinical laboratories held

LAHORE: Specialised Healthcare and Medical Education Secretary Najam Ahmed Shah said Friday that work had been started for establishing state-of-the-art central pathological laboratories in Lahore and Multan to provide international standard diagnostics facilities to the patients.

He said that this project would be completed within the next six months for which proposals were being sought from the national as well as international companies. It is important to add that there had been a strong political commitment for this project as it would benefit the masses, he added.

He stated this while addressing a pre-bid conference arranged by the Punjab Health Initiative Management Company (PHIMC) at Specialised Healthcare Department in connection with establishing/outsourcing of clinical laboratories and pathologies services in Lahore and Multan. More than 50 representatives from national as well as international firms/companies participated in the pre-bid conference.

The health secretary said that setting up of central laboratories would be a game-changer initiative in the health sector and patients would get laboratory services of international standards.

Earlier, PHIMC Chief Executive Officer Zaheer Abbas Malik briefed the participants regarding the project. He informed that land had already been identified in Jinnah Hospital in Lahore and near the old bus terminal in Multan for the construction of the central labs.

He said that this project would be a model of public and private partnership, adding that successful national or international companies would equip and operate the central labs and clinical stat laboratories.

He further said that the Specialized Healthcare and Medical Education department would pay the operators of the laboratories according to the nature and number of tests at a fixed rate on a monthly basis. Zaheer Abbas further said that 17 hospitals in Lahore and three hospitals in Multan would be managed under this project where central laboratories would provide diagnostics facilities to the patients free of cost.