No patient could be attended at any of the departments, including the Emergency and Accident, in Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Center (JPMC) on Tuesday due to non availability of fuel to run its generators. Hospital administration told APP that there had been no electricity at JPMC for past five to six days due to certain fault in KESC grid station supplying power to it.
"Concerned authorities were told about non availability of funds to procure fuel and ensure regular power supply through generators," said a senior official on condition of anonymity. To a question, he said due to heavy downpour, throughout the day, there was little number of patients at the OPDs, however, those visiting Emergency had to be referred to other hospitals.
A senior surgeon at JPMC mentioned that it was for almost a week that JPMC was not provided electricity through KESC and prior to any surgery the authorities were approached so as to ascertain that power supply would not be interrupted during the operation. "Many of the surgeries had to be postponed," he said. The surgeon also mentioned that professors of surgery associated with JPMC had held a meeting and expressed their concern about the situation. The officials said the confusion and paucity of funds was a new phenomenon and was consequent to recent changes in the hospital status that till recently was a federal government entity.