Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday performed the groundbreaking of the 300-bed Jinnah hospital in Islamabad, the first public sector hospital since 1985 in the federal capital to cater to the needs of the city's growing population.

The premier also inaugurated the emergency department at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) Hospital in Islamabad.

“[SAPM on Health] Faisal Sultan rightly said that for the first time since 1985 a hospital was being constructed in Islamabad. We need to understand that Islamabad is the fastest-growing city in the country,” he said while addressing the ceremony.

The federal capital’s population has doubled in the span of ten years from 2010 to 2020, he said, adding that the lack of hospitals in the city had left infirmaries and the healthcare infrastructure overstretched. "The [Jinnah] hospital has been designed by an American architect, who specialises in hospitals."

PM Imran further said the decision to build the emergency department at Pims was taken in the wake of a surprise visit he made to the facility after coming to power. “I found the the condition of the emergency ward to be very poor during a past visit to the hospital,” he said, adding that proper medical care is the least that the government needs to ensure for its people.

The premier pointed out that the Pims emergency warned has been designed by Graham Rapp, the same architect who designed hospitals of the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centres.

He thanked overseas Pakistanis for bearing the financial expense of the design of the department. “It shows our people are open-hearted and generous. No nation other than Pakistanis gives so much money in the name of God.” The premier asserted that the Pims ward would be the most quality emergency department in the country.

PM Imran claimed that no other government did the amount of work they did in the health sector and highlighted the health card initiative. Moreover, he praised his government’s single curriculum initiative.

“Rather than being treated as language to be learnt, English is used to make class-based distinction,” he said, adding that the nation was bearing the burden of mental slavery. "The colonial education system has led to the nation’s inferiority complex."

Speaking earlier, SAPM on Health Faisal Sultan highlighted the need for the growing health infrastructure of Islamabad in view of a growing population. He added the two projects would provide "major relief" to the federal capital's residents.