PM Shehbaz to Open 167-Bed Margalla Hospital in Islamabad With Free Treatment
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will inaugurate the 167-bed Margalla Hospital in Islamabad this week, giving residents of the capital free diagnostic, medical and surgical services at a facility that had sat unused for years. Margalla Hospital Islamabad will operate under a philanthropic partnership with the Indus Hospital and Health Network, bringing a long-dormant building back into service.
Federal Health Minister Mustafa Kamal chaired a review meeting on the inauguration preparations this week, with the health ministry’s joint secretary and other officials in attendance. Kamal said reviving the facility would ease pressure on Islamabad’s major hospitals and improve access to quality care for a large population. He described the partnership as an example of public service, transparency and the effective use of national resources, and said the government was taking practical steps to improve healthcare for the public.
Margalla Hospital Islamabad: free care under the Indus partnership
The hospital will charge patients nothing for diagnostics, medical consultations or surgery, according to the announcement. Instead, it will run on the Indus Hospital and Health Network’s charitable care model, which funds treatment through donations and philanthropy rather than patient fees.
The building itself had remained non-functional for several years before the government moved to revive it. Its return to service adds a finished hospital to the capital’s health system without the cost or delay of new construction.
What free treatment means for Islamabad residents
For residents, the difference is practical. Diagnostic tests and operations at private hospitals can cost tens of thousands of rupees — bills many families cannot pay. A free 167-bed facility in the capital gives those families another option close to home, instead of postponing care or borrowing money for treatment.
The model also avoids the paperwork hurdles that come with some free-care schemes. Programmes such as the Sehat Card verify identity and eligibility before paying for treatment — as Khyber Teaching Hospital’s first Sehat Card kidney transplant showed. The Indus approach treats patients without a bill and without an eligibility test.
Relief for PIMS and the capital’s federal hospitals
Islamabad’s main public hospitals routinely operate beyond capacity, so any new capacity helps. Kamal said reviving Margalla Hospital would directly ease the load on the city’s major hospitals, where long queues for diagnostics and elective surgery are common.
The capital’s flagship facility has seen leadership changes of its own: Dr Tanvir Khaliq recently took additional charge as PIMS executive director, as the federal government works to steady the city’s biggest public hospital. The strain on the public system is visible nationwide — doctors at Karachi’s Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre protested over months of unpaid salaries.
The Indus Hospital free-care model
The partner running Margalla Hospital is one of Pakistan’s best-known charities in healthcare. The Indus Hospital and Health Network began in 2007 as a single 150-bed hospital in Korangi, Karachi, and has grown into a nationwide network of hospitals, primary care centres and blood centres.
Its defining rule is simple: every patient is treated free of charge, with no income test and no cashier. The network runs on donations, zakat and philanthropic funding. That is the same model the government is now applying to the revived Margalla facility — a public building run on a charitable system, with the state partnering rather than billing patients.
The healthcare sector has been drawing national attention this year — Pakistan’s largest healthcare event kicked off in Karachi earlier this year, and public-private partnerships are becoming a recurring route for expanding care.
The original reporting on this development was published by ProPakistani, with background on the Indus network from Wikipedia.
FAQ
What is Margalla Hospital Islamabad?
It is a 167-bed hospital in Islamabad that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is scheduled to inaugurate this week. It will offer free diagnostic, medical and surgical services to residents of the capital and surrounding areas.
Who will run the hospital?
It will operate under a philanthropic partnership with the Indus Hospital and Health Network, a non-profit organisation that runs hospitals across Pakistan on a fully free, donation-funded model.
Will patients really pay nothing?
According to the announcement, yes. Diagnostics, medical treatment and surgery will be free of charge for patients at the facility.
Why was the hospital non-functional?
The building had remained inactive for several years before the government moved to revive it under the new partnership. The health minister says its revival will ease pressure on Islamabad’s major hospitals.
