NICVD earns Clinical Service Initiative Award

The institute provides free cardiac treatment in southern cities and remote areas of Pakistan.

The National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) is managing a network of NICVD Satellite Centres, consisting of 10 full-fledged hospitals that serve not only the southern region of Pakistan but also the whole country. For its excellent service and state-of-the-art facilities, NICVD has received the Clinical Service Initiative of the Year prize at the Healthcare Asia Awards 2021.

Prior to 2016-2017, only Karachi residents had access to these cardiac facilities, which was even not affordable for the masses. A whole new professional team, led by strategic panel of renowned professor of cardiology and Executive Director (Dr. Nadeem Qamar), seasoned Healthcare Management Expert (Mr. Hyder Awan), Chief Operating Officer (Ms. Azra Maqsood) and healthcare-trained management professionals; graciously took up the challenge of transforming the NICVD. They initiated a change management process to revamp the entire system, and made this autonomous public hospital, in reality an accessible healthcare facility for the public. The NICVD launched its hospital services so that treatment for various heart diseases would be available and accessible to the underprivileged sectors of society also. Today, NICVD’s FREE services include cardiac emergency, inpatient facility, outpatient care, critical cardiac care, cardiac surgeries (open heart and minimally invasive in adults and children), angiographies, primary/elective angioplasties, TAVI, cardiac implants (such as pacemakers), echocardiography, and free medicines for adult and paediatric cardiac patients.

Since NICVD was founded in 1963 by Dr. Ali Muhammad Kasim, the Institute has evolved to become the leader in Pakistan’s cardiac care sector. It is NOW a tertiary cardiac centre that provides comprehensive diagnostic, therapeutic, and preventive treatment to all patients regardless of socioeconomic status. Aside from being Pakistan’s flagship facility for cardiology founded almost 6 decades back, NICVD is the first tertiary cardiac-care institute in South Asia, providing superior care for patients while also conducting research and development in cardiology, and education and training for cardiac physicians, surgeons, nurses, and paramedics across the country. With regard to professional education, the Institute offers a post-fellowship programmes, residency training programmes, a postgraduate diploma in cardiology, preventive cardiology courses, and undergraduate rotations/electives for medical and nursing students.

NICVD serves numerous patients from everywhere in Pakistan, as well as Afghan refugees and people from neighbouring countries. NICVD is now present not only in Karachi (as head office and main hospital) but also situated in nine (09) other cities including Hyderabad, Khairpur, Lyari (Karachi), Larkana, Mithi (Thar), Nawabshah (Benazirabad), Sehwan, Sukkur, and Tando Muhammad Khan. 21 Chest Pain Units are also installed at different locations in Karachi, Ghotlki, Tando Bago (Badin), Jacobabad (JIMS), Umerkot and Tando Allah Yar for emergency treatment of heart attack. Further there are ongoing plans to launch similar facilities in other provinces also.

NICVD’s mission is to become one of the world’s leading healthcare facilities through the following strategy: (1) adopting a patient-focused approach that considers patients’ needs and values, (2) upholding the “time is muscle” principle to perform prompt diagnosis and treatment to reduce heart damage, (3) providing convenient access to financially constrained patients so that heart-related diseases can be cured or prevented immediately, (4) educating highly capable medical professionals in cardiology, and (5) maintaining a research-oriented environment to keep up with latest developments in this field of medicine. As part of NICVD’s mission, the hospital guarantees that “all patients” receive “totally free treatment and quality care”.