KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, presiding over a meeting, approved the progress, design, scope, and financial framework of a 600-bed hospital in Larkano, describing it as a major healthcare project for upper Sindh. The hospital is expected to be completed within two years. The groundbreaking ceremony is planned for March 2026, with the first tower scheduled for completion within one year and the second tower in the following year. The chief minister issued these directives to the Planning & Development (P&D) and Health departments. The meeting was attended by Health Minister Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho, Chief Secretary Asif Hyder Shah, Chairman Planning & Development Najam Shah, Finance Secretary Fayaz Jatoi, Secretary to the CM Raheem Shaikh, Health Secretary Rehan Baloch, Dr Saeed Qureshi, and Project Director Hospital Kashif Khuhro, while the Commissioner Larkano participated via video link. The chief minister said that the hospital project had been taken up on the instructions of Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari. In line with the chairman’s vision, the facility will provide quality healthcare to the people of Upper Sindh. Briefing the meeting, officials informed the CM that the Larkano hospital will be a six-storey facility with a basement, to be constructed in two phases. It will have a total capacity of 596 beds and will function as a 600-bed tertiary care hospital. Hospital structure and capacity: The hospital plan, as approved by the chief minister, will be completed in two phases. Phase I of the project includes a six-floor tower with a basement and will provide 288 nursing-care beds, 92 emergency beds, and 48 intensive-care beds. Phase II will add 144 nursing-care beds and 24 ICU beds, bringing the total capacity to 432 nursing-care beds, 92 ER beds and 72 ICU beds in the second tower. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025