Islamabad: One-third of Argentina Park allocated for FGHS hospital

[Naveed Yaseen]

Shahina Maqbool
The government of Argentina, as well as the Capital Development Authority (CDA), has approved allocation of one-third of the land area of Argentina Park for expansion of the congested and over-crowded Federal Government Services Hospital (FGHS), which caters to a daily patient load of 7,000.

The announcement was made at a joint press conference addressed Tuesday by chairperson of the Senate Standing Committee on Health Kalsoom Parveen, Health Secretary Khushnood Akhtar Lashari, Ambassador of Argentina Rodolfo J Martin Sarabia, and executive director of FGHS Dr. Shaukat Kiyani.

The decision has been taken in response to a recommendation made and actively pursued by the Senate Standing Committee on Health. With extra land now available, FGSH will grow from a 508-bed hospital to an 1100-bed facility, with two new departments-that of oncology and neurosurgery-being added to its existing 33 specialties. The new block will be named ‘Argentinean Pavilion’ and will be completed within two years.

The FGSH had long been demanding the accession of Argentina Park to the hospital. The proposal had twice been rejected in the past-both by the CDA, which is naturally opposed to the idea of green areas being converted into concrete, as well as by the government of Argentina, which was not pleased with the idea of the park being shifted to an alternative site or demolished altogether because of the symbolic value that it holds.

Argentina Park was so named by the government of Pakistan to symbolize the historic relationship between the two countries, particularly with reference to the assistance provided to Pakistan by Argentina in the 1971 war.

“I am very pleased to be part of the team that will launch the fantastic project of expansion of FGSH. This is a very important project from a humanitarian perspective,” Ambassador Rodolfo Sarabia stated at the press conference. Responding to a query, he informed that the government of Argentina is in favour of one-third of the park being used for expansion of the hospital, and the remaining two-thirds being developed as a recreational spot for the general public as well as attendants of patients.

Ambassador Rodolfo assured to extend all possible technical assistance to make the project a reality. He shared that Argentina would organize a capacity-building programme focusing on training of oncology nurses in the new department to be added to FGSH, and hoped that support would also be forthcoming from the Planning Commission, the Ministry of Investment, and other stakeholders in the health sector.

Responding to a question, Khushnood Lashari said the exact cost of the project will be known after a comprehensive plan has been chalked out, and all modalities settled. He said, a construction company has been identified an allocation for the project has been made in the PSDP.

Earlier, Kalsoom Parveen expressed joy over the committee’s recommendation for expansion of FGSH being honoured by CDA and the Argentinean government. “We invited the Ambassador of Argentina to visit the hospital, and he observed how lack of space and beds were hampering the functioning of this pro-poor health facility with a catchment area extending from the outskirts of Islamabad right up to Fatehjang,” she stated.

Ambassador Rodolfo seconded Kalsoom’s comment with his own observations. “I saw two patients each on one bed, and three doctors attending to patients in a single congested room,” he recollected, hoping that the project would eventually translate into better health services being provided to the people of Pakistan.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=196246