Holy Family Hospital, one of the government hospitals where 115 regular employees on work permits are awaiting their salaries PHOTO: RAWALPINDI MEDICAL UNIVERSITY
RAWALPINDI:
The Stroke Centre at Holy Family Hospital has saved 150 people who reached the hospital on time after suffering a stroke from lifelong disability caused by paralysis.
Patients brought to the Stroke Centre were administered TPA injections to prevent the formation of blood clots.
According to sources, the stroke centre was established in a section of the emergency department of Holy Family Hospital in 2024 on the directions of Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz.
Patients brought to the centre within three to four hours of suffering a stroke are given a TPA injection as a treatment to prevent the stroke attack. The injection prevents a blood clot from forming in the brain of a stroke patient, helping protect the patient from paralysis. The patient recovers within three to four days and is discharged home.
Since the establishment of the Stroke Centre at Holy Family Hospital in 2024, 150 patients who were brought to the hospital within three to four hours of suffering a stroke have been administered injections to help them recover from the attack, keeping them safe from paralysis.
Holy Family Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Ijaz Butt said a team of specialist doctors was working at the hospital’s Stroke Centre under the supervision of Dr Mohammad Fateen Rashid, head of the neurology department.
He said patients brought to the Stroke Centre were not only given the TPA injection free of cost but were also provided complete free treatment before being discharged home. They were also given awareness about ways to remain safe from stroke attacks.
First cancer treatment tower
On the other hand, the Punjab government has approved the establishment of the first 100-bed cancer treatment tower at Holy Family Hospital (HFH), the largest hospital in the city, for patients across Rawalpindi Division.
A cryoablation machine for cancer patients has already arrived in Rawalpindi.
The Punjab chief minister has approved the construction of the 100-bed cancer treatment tower at HFH, for which the relevant departments have formally begun preparing the PC-I.
Sources said, at a video-link meeting chaired by the Punjab health secretary on the chief minister’s directives, representatives of the Health Department, Communication and Works Department and other relevant departments were informed that cancer treatment towers would be constructed at HFH for Rawalpindi Division and at government hospitals in Faisalabad, Sargodha and Bahawalpur.
They said, before completion of the construction work, the appointment of specialist doctors and staff and procurement of the necessary equipment would be completed so that treatment could begin at the towers immediately after their construction.
Meanwhile, a cryoablation machine for patients suffering from breast, lung, liver and kidney cancers has already been delivered to HFH. Its installation is currently under way.
Once its test run is completed, formal registration will begin for patients suffering from the four types of cancer for treatment through the machine.
