Nishtar Hospital

Nishtar Hospital, Multan
Nishtar Hospital
Geography
Location	Nishtar Road, Multan, Punjab, Pakistan
Coordinates	30°12′09″N71°26′40″E / 30.20250°N 71.44444°E / 30.20250; 71.44444 Coordinates: 30°12′09″N71°26′40″E / 30.20250°N 71.44444°E / 30.20250; 71.44444
Organisation
Care system	Tertiary care
Funding	Public hospital
Type	Teaching Hospital
Affiliated university	College of Physicians and Surgeons of Pakistan Nishtar Medical University [1]
Services
Beds	1800
History
Opened	1 October 1953
Links
Website	www.nmch-edu.pk
Lists	Hospitals in Pakistan

Nishtar Hospital is a teaching hospital of Nishtar Medical University, located in Multan, Pakistan. It is a tertiary care hospital, owned by the Government of Punjab. It serves a large population of South Punjab. ^[2]

Accredited hospital

Nishtar Hospital is accredited by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Pakistan. ^[3]

History

It is named after Sardar Abdur Rab Nishtar, former Governor of Punjab, Pakistan, a Pakistan Movement activist, a celebrated companion of the Father of Nation, Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

The construction of the Nishtar Hospital block started in 1953. The basic idea and its plan were provided by Dr. M. J. Bhutta. It started functioning with 80 beds on October 1, 1953. ^[4]

Facilities

The hospital's total bed capacity currently stands at 1,850 beds. ^[5] It has 24 departments and divisions, over 31 wards, a burn unit, an outpatient, and an Accident & Emergency Department, in addition to 15 operation theaters.

Administration

Shahid Bukhari has been the Medical Superintendent of the hospital since 2019. ^[6]

2022 incident

In October 2022, it was discovered that multiple abandoned dead bodies which remained unclaimed, were stored on the roof of the hospital instead of proper burial. Later, HOD Anatomy Department revealed that the bodies could not be buried because of policy of handover of corpses to Police, which didn't take place owing to delay. ^[7] horrific videos and images of multiple deceased people found on the roptop of the Hospital, Multan in a bad condition circulated on social media. After the pictures and videos came out, questions arose on social media that whose bodies are these and why they are lying helpless. ^{[8] [9] [10]}

Police and rescue personnel were blamed by a representative of the Hospital for the decomposing remains. ^[11]

Investigation

Following incident, the Punjab government last night announced an investigation and required the Nishtar Hospital medical superintendent to provide an explanation within three days. ^{[12] [13]} A six-person committee was established by the Punjab government to look into the shocking incident. ^[11] The South Punjab Health Department would get the results of the investigation. ^[14]

The preliminary investigation report was given to Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi on October 13, 2022, who then ordered the dismissal of Dr. Mariam Ashraf, the head of the anatomy department at Nishtar Medical University (NMU), along with the suspension of three doctors, three hospital staff members, and two SHOs of the corresponding police stations. ^{[15] [16]}

References

1. "History". Nishtar Medical Association Alumni Association of Bharat India. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
2. "Nishtar Medical College & Hospital Multan | Multan". multan.punjab.gov.pk.
3. Nishtar Hospital is accredited by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Pakistan College of Physicians and Surgeons of Pakistan website, Retrieved 11 September 2022
4. "Nishtar Hospital". Nishtar Medical College Alumni Association of North America.
5. "Nishtar Hospital".
6. "Dr. Shahid Bukhari Appointed MS Nishtar Hospital". Urdu Point. 9 August 2019. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
7. "Rotten bodies found on Multan's Nishtar Hospital rooftop".
8. "Rotten bodies found on Multan's Nishtar Hospital rooftop". www.thenews.com.pk.
9. "Multiple bodies found on hospital's roof in Multan". The Express Tribune. 14 October 2022.
10. Desk, Web (13 October 2022). "Bodies found on Nishtar hospital's roof; probe ordered".
11. "Nishtar hospital starts probe into decaying bodies".
12. "Case of finding abandoned bodies on roof of Multan's Nishtar Hospital | Dunya News". video.dunyanews.tv.
13. Reporter, The Newspaper's Staff (14 October 2022). "Mishandling of abandoned bodies to be probed". DAWN.COM.
14. "Pakistan: Six-member committee to probe abandoned bodies discovered on rooftop of Multan hospital".
15. "Case of rotten bodies in NMU: CM Elahi orders to terminate doctors". 17 October 2022.
16. "Punjab CM suspends Nishtar Hospital staff, police officials". 17 October 2022.