Islamabad: The federal government on Monday reshuffled the top management of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, PIMS, assigning its charge to SZABMU Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Tanwir Khaliq and appointing Prof Dr Brig (R) Azmat Hayat as Joint Executive Director (Medical).
Prof Khaliq, Vice Chancellor of Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University, Islamabad, has been assigned additional charge of the BPS-21 post of executive director at PIMS for three months or until the availability of a regular incumbent, whichever is earlier.
He replaces Dr Muhammad Salman, who was given additional charge of PIMS after a fire in the neonatal nursery of the Mother and Child Health Centre killed 14 newborns in August.
Dr Salman, Chief Executive Officer of the National Institutes of Health, has been directed to resume his duties at NIH, his parent department, with immediate effect. The notification does not specify a reason for his replacement or announce any disciplinary action against him.
A notification issued by the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination said Prof Khaliq’s appointment had been made following directives from the Prime Minister’s Office communicated on October 2.
Separately, the health ministry assigned Prof Dr Brig (R) Azmat Hayat, Professor of Electrophysiology at PIMS, additional charge of the BPS-20 post of Joint Executive Director (Medical).
Prof Hayat will perform the duties for three months or until a regular incumbent becomes available, according to the notification issued with the approval of the health secretary. He will also be entitled to additional remuneration under the applicable rules.
The appointment of a new executive director and a joint executive director comes as PIMS remains under intense scrutiny over the August 26 nursery fire, administrative lapses and the slow restoration of affected services.
Dr Salman had been appointed to head PIMS after eight officials, including the hospital’s then executive director Prof Dr Imran Sikandar, were suspended on August 29 following an interim inquiry into the tragedy.
The fire broke out in the neonatal nursery of the Mother and Child Health Centre, killing 14 newborns. One baby was rescued by a nurse who entered the burning nursery.
The interim inquiry identified serious shortcomings in fire safety, emergency preparedness and neonatal evacuation arrangements. It found that an approved, communicated and rehearsed procedure for responding to a fire in the nursery had not been demonstrated, while the precise ignition source remained unconfirmed at that stage.
The inquiry also referred to an earlier fire at the hospital’s nursing hostel in July, which had exposed deficiencies in fire detection, alarms, evacuation preparedness and electrical inspections. It found that the earlier warning had not been followed by the required improvements in hospital preparedness.
The hospital later faced parliamentary scrutiny over the deaths and accountability. On September 14, the Senate Standing Committee on Health directed authorities to register an FIR within 24 hours over the tragedy.
During a September 24 visit, Federal Health Minister Syed Mustafa Kamal questioned Dr Salman over the continued closure of the affected nursery and sought a timeline for its reopening.
The minister also expressed dissatisfaction over delays in hospital projects and called for improvements in patient care and staff conduct, adding pressure on the country’s largest federal tertiary-care hospital to restore public confidence after the deaths.
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