Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Thursday performed the groundbreaking ceremony for a new 100-bed state-of-the-art Cardiac Emergency Department at the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD), Karachi, aimed at expanding the hospital’s capacity to provide free emergency cardiac care to patients from across Pakistan.
The new facility is being developed through a joint initiative of the Sindh government, NICVD Patients’ Aid Foundation and Hilton Pharma and is expected to be completed within approximately eight months.
Speaking at the ceremony, Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah said the project was not merely another construction initiative but a facility designed to save lives, provide hope to families and further strengthen NICVD as a major cardiac-care institution.
The new emergency department will help reduce pressure on NICVD’s existing emergency facility, which currently receives approximately 1,000 to 1,200 patients every day from Sindh and other parts of the country.
According to details presented at the ceremony, the new cardiac emergency facility will include a triage unit, resuscitation unit, critical care unit, critical decision unit, STAT laboratory, fast-track facility, pharmacy, waiting area and help desk.
The chief minister emphasized that timely treatment is particularly critical in cardiac emergencies, where delays can have life-threatening consequences. He said the expansion would significantly strengthen NICVD’s ability to provide rapid and free cardiac treatment to patients.
NICVD Executive Director Prof Dr Tahir Saghir briefed the gathering on the institute’s growing patient workload. According to figures presented at the ceremony, NICVD treated more than 1.6 million patients during 2025, compared with around 583,000 patients in 2014. Between 2019 and 2025, more than 1.32 million patients from outside Sindh received treatment at the Karachi facility, including over 906,000 patients from Balochistan, 304,000 from Punjab and 101,000 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
During 2025 alone, NICVD performed 9,279 primary percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs), 18,875 angiographies and 1,489 cardiac surgeries, reflecting the enormous demand for specialized cardiac services at the institution.
The project will make use of existing infrastructure. Following the opening of NICVD’s new outpatient complex in December 2025, the former OPD building is being converted into the dedicated cardiac emergency facility.
Chief Minister Shah also announced that a separate seven-storey, 300-bed paediatric cardiac facility is under construction at NICVD. The facility will include five operation theatres, four catheterization laboratories, a hybrid laboratory, CT and MRI facilities, as well as a 250-seat conference hall and library.
The Sindh government has continued to allocate substantial resources to cardiac healthcare. Under the Sindh budget for 2026-27, NICVD has been allocated approximately Rs12 billion, including a one-time grant of Rs1 billion for the procurement of essential machinery and equipment. The budget documents also noted the construction of a 100-bed emergency block at NICVD.
Health Minister Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho described the new emergency block as an important milestone for lifesaving cardiac treatment, saying the modern facility would further enhance NICVD’s ability to provide timely, high-quality and free cardiac care to thousands of patients.
The groundbreaking ceremony was attended by senior government officials, NICVD leadership, doctors, philanthropists and representatives of donor organizations. The new 100-bed emergency department is expected to strengthen NICVD’s emergency response capacity and improve access to timely cardiac treatment for patients, particularly those who cannot afford private-sector healthcare.