LAHORE: Punjab chief minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday inaugurated the extension project of the THQ Hospital Raiwind. Due to the project which has been completed with a public-private partnership, the number of beds has been increased from 60 to 100.
Addressing the inaugural ceremony, the chief minister said that the orthopedic and gynaecology wards have been established along with the provision of a state-of-the-art operation theater and latest machinery to provide quality healthcare facilities to the locals as well as the patients coming from the adjoining areas. He added that the hospital shall work as a messiah for the ailing humanity.
He pointed out that new hospitals are being established across the province where latest facilities are being provided and besides the installation of CT-scan machines in all the DHQ hospitals, hepatitis filter clinics have also been set up in every district. Now the patients will not have to go to big cities for CT-scan or MRI as these facilities will be available in their areas, said the chief minister.
We have totally changed the outdated system and now no one will ever dare to say to the patients that the CT-scan machine is out of order or his or her duty time is over. The company which has set up the CT-scan machine shall also be responsible for its working round the clock. Now no one will economically deceive the needy patients, he added. CM Shehbaz also said that now the people will be given proper treatment in hospitals and there would be no strikes as billions of rupees are being spent on the provision of quality medicines.
It was my desire that same medicines should be given to the patients in public sector hospitals which will be used by me in case of any ailment. Today, this dream has come true and for the first time in the 70-year-long history of the country, needy patients are getting the same medicines for free that are available to the elite. He said that the samples of the medicines were sent to European laboratories for examination, and for the first time not even a single sample has been rejected, he added.
CM Shehbaz also said that mobile health units are providing best healthcare facilities in remote areas. Keeping their efficacy in view, 25 more mobile health units have been imported. Similarly, 40 hospitals have been modernised in different districts of the province and high-quality facilities are being provided to the patients. This is the revolution we have brought in the health sector, he added.
On one side, we are revolutionising the health sector while on the other side, the elements involved in sit-ins and lockdowns desire to abolish the revolution as this journey of public welfare is not tolerable to them, said the chief minister.
We are introducing the system that was envisaged by Iqbal and Jinnah, but it has been conspired against through sit-ins. No other conspiracy can be hatched against Pakistan than this, added CM Shehbaz.
“I am warning the political jugglers that they should refrain from their designs of befooling the nation otherwise you will be held accountable and the nation will never forgive you. What have you done in the KPK during the last four and a half years? You have only lied and taken U-turns. You have only deceived the people,” said the chief minister while taking on his political rivals.
“You had said that you will build hospitals and schools in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa instead of starting a Metro bus project, but after more than four years, you have decided to start the metro bus project there. Instead of giving honor to your voters, you have ridiculed them,” he added.
“While giving an interview to a journalist, you claimed that you will not only eliminate load-shedding from KP within five years but will also put an end to load-shedding across the country. You said that ‘there are plenty of opportunities available to produce thousands of megawatts through hydel power in the province,’ but you have not produced even a single megawatt of electricity during the last four and a half years,” said the chief minister while adding that the Punjab government has completed electricity generation projects having 5000 megawatts of capacity, from its own resources.
Taking on Imran Khan, the chief minister further said, “Niazi Sahib, you blatantly deceived the nation while lying and causing anarchy. Now how will you face the people? You leveled allegations of corruption of billions of rupees on me and I took you to the court but you did not appear before it. It would have been better if you could prove the allegations as well. Please appear before the court and if you prove the allegations, I shall go home and you can replace me”.
“You have been deceiving the nation while accusing the Punjab government of spending an amount of 70 billion rupees on the Lahore Metro Bus that actually cost only 30 billion, and so, you have been unable to prove it till today,” added the CM.
The chief minister then accused Imran of “deceiving the nation while claiming to lead it”.
“Instead of serving the masses, you label others dacoits and thieves. The nation wants health, education and transport facilities, but you are only giving it falsehood, anarchy and chaos,” he said.
CM Shehbaz said that the PML-N government has taken unprecedented steps for the development and prosperity of the people, and if the masses give PML-N another opportunity to serve them again, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta and other cities will be completely transformed as well.
The chief minister then said that the nation should elect such a leadership that could make Pakistan the state that was envisioned by Quaid and Iqbal. He said that the first phase of PKLI has been inaugurated and the credit goes to its management. The Multan Kidney Center, a hospital in Raiwind and five other hospitals of Lahore along with the Recep Tayyip Erdogan Hospital of Muzaffargarh have been handed over to the Indus Trust which has been managing them in the best possible manner. The head of this trust Dr Abdul Bari is a saint-like person, and his team is serving the patients honestly and without any lust. I pray to Allah Almighty that they serve the ailing with even more vigor and zeal. The chief minister also thanked the health minister Kh. Imran Nazir, Minister Tanvir Aslam Malik, health secretary Ali Jan Khan and secretary C&W Mian Mushtaq who have given a new lease of life to the hospital. He expressed satisfaction that besides other facilities, the Gynae ward had also been established that will work round the clock.
“I have come to this hospital many times earlier and I am happy to see that the best facilities are available here,” he added.
The chief minister took a round of the hospital after the inauguration and inquired the patients about the medical facilities being provided. He also talked to the doctors and other staff and expressed satisfaction over the staff’s diligence. He also visited the filter clinic and inspected the medical facilities there. The chief minister then presided over a meeting in the committee room and directed that the number of counters for the outdoor patients should be increased so that they may be facilitated better.