Valuable hospital assets disposed of as scrap

ABBOTTABAD: Concerns have surfaced over the reported disposal of hospital assets at King Abdullah Teaching Hospital (KATH), where medical equipment, generators, air conditioners and other items said to be worth millions of rupees were allegedly sold as scrap.

The hospital administration declared a large stock of equipment as condemned material and later auctioned it. However, some people within the hospital said a number of the items included in the sale were still operational and could have remained in service, despite being listed as scrap.

Items reportedly included in sale

The auction is said to have covered more than 150 pieces of medical equipment and machinery. The items listed included five ultrasound machines, nine X-ray machines, two portable X-ray units, one C-arm imaging system, 11 ventilators, seven chemistry analysers, three blood gas analysers, 22 oxygen concentrators, six heavy-duty generators, 30 large air conditioners and dozens of other medical devices.

People familiar with the market value of such equipment estimated that replacing the auctioned assets with new units could require between Rs300 million and Rs400 million, or possibly more. The auction is believed to have brought in only about Rs3.8 million, a gap that has prompted questions over how the assets were assessed and how the sale was carried out.

Management says records not shared

When contacted, members of the hospital’s management committee said they had not been given the relevant documents or details, and were therefore not in a position to comment on either the auction process or the decisions behind it.

Efforts were also made to seek a response from Medical Superintendent Dr Javad Swati and the hospital administration, but no reply had been received by the time of filing. Stores Administrator Ilyas Qureshi also declined to comment.

The sale and the condition of the equipment involved have raised further questions about oversight, valuation and the classification of hospital assets at the teaching hospital.