The Punjab Health Department has officially handed over 982 Basic Health Units (BHUs) to private entities, including 73 located in the Rawalpindi division.
All current medical staff—doctors, female doctors, paramedics, and grade-IV workers—are being relieved of their duties as part of this move.
This marks the second phase of the department’s ongoing privatization initiative. Just last month, 150 BHUs were transferred to private management. In total, 1,132 BHUs out of the province’s 2,507 have now been privatised.
According to officials, the plan is to privatize all remaining BHUs and rural health centers by the beginning of the 2025–26 fiscal year.
The next stage of the plan will also see major public hospitals in urban centers—including Lahore, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, and Multan—added to the privatization list.
Already, Holy Family Hospital and Benazir Bhutto General Hospital in Rawalpindi have been included in the transition.
Following the announcement, displaced employees at the sold BHUs have begun staging protests and demonstrations outside their respective facilities, voicing strong opposition to the decision and the sudden loss of jobs.
Citing a worsening financial and economic crisis, the Punjab Health Department has also abolished 30,000 vacant posts ranging from BPS-1 to BPS-18. Officials say the department is facing a severe budget shortfall, making it difficult to sustain operations under the current public model.
Earlier this year, the provincial government had approved the transfer of 90 BHUs and rural health centers in the Rawalpindi division under a cost-saving strategy.