PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa health department has decided that three more hospitals in the province will be declared medical teaching institutions following necessary amendments to the law as part of health reforms.
Of these hospitals, two are in Kohat and one in Peshawar.
The decision was made during a recent meeting chaired by chief secretary Dr. Shahzad Bangash and attended by the health, law and establishment secretaries here.
While discussing the province’s major health issues, the participants decided that Kohat’sDistrict Headquarters Hospital and Liaquat Memorial Hospital and Peshawar’s Fountain House, which was near completion, would be the next MTIs.
The chief secretary directed the health department to propose amendments to the Medical Teaching Institutions Reforms Act, 2015, and send the draft to the chief minister for approval.
The law department was told to ensure the early vetting of the proposed amendments.
Currently, the province has 11 medical teaching institutions and the number will reach 13 following the execution of the health department’s plan.
The relevant officials told Dawn that the government wanted to accord MTI status to more and more health facilities to improve their performance.
The government had enacted the MTI Act in 2015 leading to the placing of teaching hospitals and their affiliated medical and dental colleges under boards of governors.
Previously, those institutions were overseen by the health department.
The officials said the government wanted to grant administrative and financial autonomy to hospitals and improve patient care there and therefore, it legislated for the purpose.
They said the law was extended to more and more hospitals and affiliated colleges.
In November last year, the health department notified the Topi and Chota Lahor tehsil headquarters hospitals in the Swabi district as the constituents of the MTI Bacha Khan Medical Complex (BKMC).
