Private Hospitals Ordered to Reserve 35% Beds for Flood Victims

The Punjab Healthcare Commission (PHC) has instructed all private hospitals in the province to reserve 35 percent of their total beds for the treatment of people affected by recent floods.

In a circular issued on Thursday, the PHC placed all private healthcare facilities on “Emergency High Alert”, directing them to adopt special measures to deal with the crisis.

Hospitals have been ordered to provide free treatment to flood victims, maintain sufficient stocks of essential medicines, and ensure the availability of medical, nursing, and support staff around the clock, including senior administrators. Emergency wards, ICUs, and high-dependency units are required to remain fully operational at all times.

The directive also emphasized that all biomedical equipment and diagnostic machines, such as ventilators, cardiac monitors, X-rays, ultrasound, CT scans, and MRIs, must be kept functional. Hospitals were further told to strengthen monitoring systems to prevent the spread of waterborne diseases.

Additionally, the PHC ordered hospitals to prepare evacuation plans for relocating patients in case of any structural risks, ensuring coordination with nearby safe facilities or temporary medical centres. The circular warned that strict disciplinary action would be taken against institutions failing to comply.