KARACHI: The groundbreaking of a state-of-the-art healthcare facility was performed here on Sunday in the Gulistan-iJauhar area.

A non-profit organisation, the Imamia Medics International (IMI), in partnership with the Baqir Health and Educational Welfare Trust and Zaidi Abid Foundation, USA, has planned to build the project of the Universitylvieaical complex (UMC) in seven years as a modern tertiary care teaching hospitalin Karachi.

According to a press release issued here on Sunday, the 500-bedded facility after its completion would provide free-of-cost modern treatment and hospitalisation services to 200,000 patients from the deprived communities in a year. Its facilities would be extended to another 800,000 patients from middle and lower-income groups at highly-subsidisedrates.

Speaking as the guest of honour at the groundbrealcing ceremony, religious scholar Allama Syed Shehanshah Hussain Naqvi said construction of the UMC in Karachi was fully in line with the fundamental teachings of Islam that stood for providing quality healthcare services to every suffering patient without any discrimination.