ISLAMABAD: The federal government on Tuesday issued a notification regarding the takeover of three major hospitals in Karachi and one in Lahore.
Through the notification, the federal government took administrative control of the three hospitals of Karachi, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) and National Institute of Child Health (NICH), besides taking over Lahore’s Sheikh Zayed Federal Postgraduate Medical Institute.
Prior to the notification, the JPMC was being administered by the federal government despite transfer of powers to Sindh province through a constitutional amendment.
The decision to get back the control of major hospitals of provincial capitals was taken by the federal government under the Medical Teaching Institution Ordinance.
Earlier, the federal government had handed over the administration of JPMC to the Sindh government before the ruling of the Supreme Court (SC) to hand over administrative powers of the three hospitals of Karachi to the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination.
The SC through its judgement in January, 2019 had given the control of the three hospitals of Karachi to the federal government and directed the provincial as well as federal governments to complete a smooth transition of the hospitals’ control in 90 days.
The verdict was announced after the Sindh government and the health institutions had approached the court with a claim that since the subject of health had been devolved to the provinces through an amendment, the management of the JPMC, NICVD and NICH was also vested with the Sindh government.
