PRESS RELEASE

Islamabad | Pakistan, June 20th, 2010:

We are happy to share that Dr-SIR has been engaged to explore the possibility and feasibility of setting up a Children’s Hospital in Hayatabad, Peshawar. A comprehensive Activity Plan has been laid down for conducting a feasibility assessment for the construction and operationalization of this hospital. This project has been initiated by USAID/Health as part of its commitment to help Pakistan reach the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for maternal and child health.

Winrock International (WI) – a non-profit organization, is responsible for the overall management supervision of the Feasibility Assessment for this Children’s Hospital.  As requested by USAID, the Community Rehabilitation Infrastructure Support Program (CRISP), by Winrock International,has formulated a methodology and assembled a team of experts to carry out the feasibility assessment.

CRISP and its sub-recipients will work in partnership with Dr-SIR health consulting company. Chaired by Dr. Syed Iqbal Raza – the acting Executive Director of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), Dr-SIR has pioneered a software toolkit for the assessment and audit surveillance of public and private healthcare providers. Dr-SIR has been developed as a healthcare management system primarily for the diagnostic of general hospitals and health care institutions. It has its applications such as hospital planning/ development, fiscal effectiveness, operating efficiency, risk coverage, standardization and quality control in all areas of hospital and patient care in developed as well as developing countries. This can therefore be used either as a self assessment facility by the hospital administrator or healthcare financial managers of an institution or by any other external entity for the same purpose. Dr-SIR is an effective tool to serve the needs of those desiring to do capability assessment, hospital planning of a health care facility for purposes of management assessment, investment assessment, or even capability/ capacity building.

Responsibilities of Dr-SIR:

A structured approach has been developed for carrying out assessments that will provide valuable input into the decision-making process for establishment of the Children’s Hospital. Based on the objectives set forth in the SoW, Dr-SIR will be involved in undertaking the following responsibilities:

• Determine if a Children’s Hospital of the proposed size and nature is feasible from the location, catchment and security standpoint.
• Recommend the feasible size, functions and location for proposed Children’s Hospital if different from the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (GoKPK) proposal.
• Determine the scope and cost of construction and operationalization of the proposed children hospital.
• Propose at least three alternative financial models and institutional mechanisms for the sustainability of the hospital.

Dr-SIR will also be involved in Design Assessment, surveying the Need Assessment and undertaking Cost and Social Assessment of this project. The need assessment will comprise of a number of surveys that will determine the location and accessibility of the hospital by defining the catchment area based on socio-demographic data, health data, market research and other factors that will impact the viability of the hospital.

Following activities will be involved:

• Social Survey
• Catchment Survey
• Socio Economic Survey

• Accessibility Survey
• Area Route Maps
• Transportation Analysis

• Cost Assessment
• Construction Cost
• Start-up Cost
• Operation and Maintenance Cost

• Social Assessment

About Winrock International (WI):

Winrock International (WI) is a nonprofit organization that works with people in the United States and around the world to empower the disadvantaged, increase economic opportunity, and sustain natural resources. WI is prime recipient of CRISP, and is responsible for the overall management supervision of the Feasibility Assessment for the Children’s Hospital. WI will provide administrative, logistical and financial management support to the project team. In addition to these support functions, WI will be responsible for hiring and monitoring of consultants and sub-contractors for carrying out the activities included in the Activity Plan. WI will also play a coordinating role between the consultants, WI staff, CDM staff, sub-contractor, government stakeholders and USAID.

About Community Rehabilitation Infrastructure Support Program (CRISP):

CRISP is a program being carried out under supervision of WI. It supports a variety of medium and small scale development initiatives including the reconstruction and renovation of schools, health clinics, vocational education schools, youth and recreational centers, small-scale water and sanitation systems, and small-scale infrastructure in the agricultural sector in Pakistan.

CRISP sub-recipients include CDM International and Anjum Asim Shahid Rahman Chartered Accountants (AASR). These sub-recipients have been  specifically selected for particular tasks.