ISLAMABAD: Misman agement and negligence has brought the largest public sector healthcare facility in Rawalpindi, the Holy Family Hospital, on the verge of financial collapse as the hospital administration has appealed for donations for running the routine affairs of the hospital.
The administration, which owes more than Rs 400 million, has appealed to vendors for donations instead of paying their bills, hoping for payments on Eid.
The medicine suppliers and medical equipment suppliers have urged the chief minister of Punjab Maryam Nawaz Sharif to immediately intervene into matters to ensure release of the outstanding dues of the vendors. They have also requested the Health Minister of Punjab to take notice of the situation, saying that under such a situation the medicine suppliers would not be able to continue supplies to the hospital.
To discuss the ways and means of clearing the outstanding dues of the medicine vendors, the Holy Family Hospital administration held a meeting with the suppliers on March 25 but during the meeting the medical equipment suppliers were stunned to hear the hospital management appeal to the vendors to donate to the hospital.
According to a vendor who attended the meeting, the hospital management while apologizing the vendors for long delay in payments has said they so far hospital has hardly arranged Rs90 million, while the accounts department has received the outstanding bills worth Rs370 million and the management will ensure the releases before the close of ongoing financial year. The Holy family management said that hospital is facing the worst financial crisis in history and was not in a position to make payments to the suppliers.
According to another vendor, the senior hospital management has even requested the vendors to help the hospital by donating medicines so that the hospital can meet its needs. The medicine suppliers after listening to the Additional Medical Superintendent’s reply started protest saying they were supplying all kinds of medicines to the hospital since months and now on the eve of Eid-ul-Fitr, the hospital management is expressing their inability to pay the outstanding dues.
They said that the administration had been swindling vendors for the past three months and when vendors came to the meeting with great hope that they will get some amount of their outstanding dues before Eid, the hospital management appealed for donations.
Now the vendors have decided to take up the matter with the chief minister Punjab and the health minister Punjab, saying that the mismanagement is destroying one of the biggest and state-of-the-art hospitals, which was expanded last year by spending billions of rupees.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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