ISLAMABAD: The Indus Hospital & Health Network (IHHN) is expected to take over the management of the federal government’s Isolation Hospital and Infectious Treatment Centre (IHITC) and the Regional Blood Centre (RBC) in Islamabad after the federal cabinet approved a policy for outsourcing both facilities, officials of the Ministry of National Health Services (NHS) and the IHHN said on Wednesday.
The move is aimed at reviving two major public health facilities that have remained largely underutilised despite substantial public investment. The federal cabinet on Tuesday approved a policy for outsourcing the IHITC and RBC to ensure the provision of high-quality healthcare services.
Following the decision, the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination will complete the outsourcing process in accordance with the applicable rules and regulations.
Officials familiar with the process said the Indus Hospital & Health Network had already emerged as the sole successful bidder during the competitive tendering process launched by the ministry and was selected to manage both facilities under a public-private partnership model, subject to completion of the remaining legal formalities.
Talking to The News, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Indus Hospital & Health Network, Dr Abdul Bari Khan, confirmed that the organisation was the only applicant for the project.
“We were the only applicants in the bidding process and have already won the bid. Now that the federal cabinet has approved the outsourcing policy, we are awaiting the formal process by the ministry to hand over both facilities to us,” he said.
Dr Bari said the Isolation Hospital and Infectious Treatment Centre, established during the Covid-19 pandemic, would no longer function solely as an infectious diseases hospital.
“The health needs of the area have changed. Instead of remaining a specialised isolation hospital, it will be developed into a general healthcare facility with particular focus on maternal and child health and other essential medical services so that the maximum number of people can benefit,” he said.
The 250-bed IHITC, located behind the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on Park Road, was established during the Covid-19 pandemic but has remained largely closed since 2023 because the government lacked the financial and administrative capacity to operate it on a sustained basis.
Dr Bari said operational funding for both the IHITC and the Regional Blood Centre would continue to be provided by the federal government through the health ministry, while day-to-day administration and service delivery would be the responsibility of the Indus Hospital & Health Network.
“The government will continue financing these facilities while we will manage them professionally and ensure quality healthcare services,” he said.
Referring to the Regional Blood Centre, Dr Bari said the Indus Hospital & Health Network already operates a similar facility in Jamshoro, Sindh, and would implement the same internationally accepted model in Islamabad.
The Regional Blood Centre on Park Road would collect blood from voluntary donors, screen it for HIV, hepatitis B and C, syphilis and other transfusion-transmissible infections, separate it into blood components, and supply safe blood products to public and private hospitals linked with the facility.
He said inadequately screened blood remained a major source of transmission of HIV and other blood-borne infections in Pakistan.
“When hospitals receive properly screened blood and quality blood components from a modern regional blood centre, the chances of transmitting HIV, hepatitis and other blood-borne infections through blood transfusion are reduced drastically,” he said.
The Islamabad Regional Blood Centre was established under the federal government’s Safe Blood Transfusion Programme with financial support from KfW Development Bank of Germany but has remained largely non-operational because of administrative and operational constraints.
A senior official of the Ministry of National Health Services confirmed that although the Indus Hospital & Health Network was the sole bidder selected during the procurement process, the ministry still had to complete the required procurement and public-private partnership formalities before the final management agreement could be signed.
